Definition

1. Noun:

   • Maize and sweet potato: Refers to two staple food crops, specifically corn (maize) and sweet potato, often mentioned together to represent basic, staple foods or agricultural produce.
   • Staple crops / foodstuffs: Can represent basic, essential food items, typically starchy vegetables that form the foundation of a diet.

2. Idiomatic Phrase (used in the fixed expression "ra ngô ra khoai"):

   • To make things unambiguously clear / To lay all the cards on the table: This idiom means to clarify a situation thoroughly, to state facts plainly without concealment, or to establish the true nature or responsible party of a matter.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Bữa ăn đơn giản chỉ có ngô khoai. (The simple meal consisted only of maize and sweet potatoes.)
  • Ngô khoai là lương thực chính của người dân vùng này. (Maize and sweet potatoes are the staple foods of the people in this region.)

• Idiomatic Phrase ("ra ngô ra khoai"):

  • Chúng ta cần nói chuyện cho ra ngô ra khoai. (We need to talk to make things perfectly clear.)
  • Cuộc điều tra đã làm ra ngô ra khoai vụ việc. (The investigation laid bare the truth of the matter.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is most commonly encountered in the idiomatic expression "ra ngô ra khoai". Its power comes from the concrete imagery of separating or clearly identifying two distinct, fundamental food items, implying a process of sorting out confusion to reach clarity.

Variants and Related Words

• Ngô (n): Maize, corn.
• Khoai (n) (often khoai lang): Sweet potato. (Note: "Khoai" alone can sometimes refer to other tubers like potatoes, but in this pairing, it specifically means sweet potato).
• Lương thực (n): Food staples, grains.
• Củ quả (n): Tubers and fruits; generally refers to vegetables.

Synonyms

• Nói thẳng / Nói rõ: To speak directly / to clarify.
• Làm sáng tỏ: To elucidate, to shed light on.
• Giải quyết dứt điểm: To resolve conclusively.

Related Idioms

• "Ăn ngô nói khoai": A less common, related idiom suggesting speaking evasively or beating around the bush (literally: "to eat corn but talk about sweet potatoes"), which is almost the opposite meaning of "ra ngô ra khoai".
• "Nói toạc móng heo": To speak bluntly, to call a spade a spade.

1. Maize and sweet potato
   • Ra ngô ra khoai
     To make things unambiguously clear