ngáp gió
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb (Động từ):
- To fail, to come a cropper: "ngáp gió" is a dialectal expression meaning to fail or to be unsuccessful in an endeavor, often implying an unexpected or complete failure.
- To miss the mark, to flop: It can also describe an attempt that does not achieve its intended goal, resulting in a futile outcome.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Dự án kinh doanh của anh ấy đã ngáp gió. (His business project came a cropper.)
- Nếu không chuẩn bị kỹ, bạn sẽ dễ ngáp gió. (If you don't prepare carefully, you'll easily fail.)
Advanced Usage
"bị ngáp gió": to suffer a failure.
- Đội bóng bị ngáp gió ngay từ vòng đầu tiên. (The football team suffered a failure right from the first round.)
"làm gì đó đến ngáp gió": to do something until it fails.
- Anh ta cứ cố chấp theo đuổi ý tưởng đó đến ngáp gió. (He stubbornly pursued that idea until it failed.)
Variants and Related Words
Thất bại (verb): to fail. This is the standard, non-dialectal synonym.
- Kế hoạch đã thất bại. (The plan failed.)
Hỏng (verb): to break down, to go wrong. Often used for mechanical failures or plans that go awry.
- Chiếc máy đột nhiên hỏng. (The machine suddenly broke down.)
Synonyms
- Thất bại: to fail.
- Hụt hơi: to fall short, to run out of steam (can imply failing due to exhaustion or lack of resources).
- Trật đường rầy: to go off the rails (implies a plan or person deviating into failure).
Related Idioms
"Chết đứng": to be stumped, to be at a dead end. This shares the connotation of a sudden, complete failure or stoppage.
- Câu hỏi khó khiến nó chết đứng. (The difficult question stumped him.)
"Xuôi tay": to give up, to admit defeat. This focuses on the resignation following failure.
- Sau nhiều lần thất bại, anh ấy đành xuôi tay. (After many failures, he had to give up.)
Notes on Usage
- Register: "Ngáp gió" is a colloquial and dialectal term. It is more common in spoken Vietnamese, particularly in certain regions, than in formal writing.
- Connotation: The term often carries a vivid, somewhat informal tone, painting a picture of an attempt that "gasped for air" (like the literal meaning of "ngáp": to yawn, and "gió": wind) and died, emphasizing its futility.
- (địa phương) Come a cropper (in some undertalking)