Definition

1. Verb phrase: - To swallow humiliation; to endure an insult without protest: To accept and bear a humiliating situation, offense, or insult without retaliating or complaining, often out of necessity or to avoid greater trouble.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Anh ấy đã phải nuốt nhục trước những lời lăng mạ của đối thủ. (He had to swallow his pride/endure the humiliation in the face of his opponent's insults.)
  • Để giữ hòa khí trong gia đình, cô ấy luôn im lặng và nuốt nhục. (To maintain family harmony, she always remains silent and endures the humiliation.)
  • Không có quyền lực trong tay, anh ta chỉ biết nuốt nhục. (Having no power in hand, he could only swallow the insult.)

Advanced Usage

• "nuốt nhục nằm gai": This is a more intense, idiomatic variation meaning "to swallow humiliation and lie on thorns," emphasizing the extreme difficulty and pain of enduring hardship and shame patiently while waiting for a chance to retaliate or improve one's situation.
  • Suốt mười năm nuốt nhục nằm gai, cuối cùng ông ấy cũng có cơ hội phục thù. (After ten years of enduring humiliation and hardship, he finally had a chance for revenge.)

Variants and Related Words

• Chịu nhục (verb phrase): To bear shame/humiliation. This is a close synonym but can sometimes imply a slightly more passive acceptance.
• Cam chịu (verb): To resign oneself to, to endure passively. This shares the sense of enduring something unpleasant.
• Nhẫn nhục (verb): To be patient and endure hardship/humiliation, often with a connotation of Buddhist-like forbearance.

Synonyms

• To eat humble pie: To make a humble apology and accept humiliation.
• To swallow one's pride: To accept something humiliating, setting aside one's pride.
• To grin and bear it: To endure an unpleasant situation without complaining.
• To take it on the chin: To accept criticism or a difficult situation bravely and without complaint.

Related Idioms

• "Nuốt hận": To swallow one's hatred/resentment. This focuses more on burying feelings of anger and revenge rather than public humiliation.
  • Hắn nuốt hận, chờ ngày trả thù. (He swallowed his hatred, waiting for the day of revenge.)
• "Ăn miếng trả miếng": An eye for an eye, tit for tat. This is the opposite concept, meaning to retaliate immediately rather than endure.

1. Eat (swallow) the leek