não nà não nuột
Definition
- Adjective:
- Excessively sweet or cloying (in flavor): Describes a taste, often of food or drink, that is overly sweet to the point of being unpleasant or sickening.
- Excessively sentimental or saccharine (in manner or style): Describes behavior, speech, music, or art that is overly sweet, emotional, or affectionate in a way that seems insincere, exaggerated, or mawkish.
Usage Examples
Adjective (Flavor):
- Ly sinh tố này ngọt não nà não nuột. (This smoothie is cloyingly sweet.)
- Món chè bị cho quá nhiều đường, ăn não nà não nuột. (The sweet soup had too much sugar added; it tastes unpleasantly sweet.)
Adjective (Manner/Style):
- Bài hát đó có giai điệu não nà não nuột. (That song has a sickly sweet melody.)
- Anh ấy nói chuyện với cô ấy bằng giọng não nà não nuột. (He talks to her in a sickeningly sweet tone.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase is reduplicative, formed from "não nuột," which intensifies the sense of excessive, overwhelming sweetness or sentimentality. It is almost always used in a negative or critical sense.
Variants and Related Words
- Não nuột (adj): The root form, meaning overly sweet or mawkish.
- Lời văn não nuột. (Mawkish writing.)
Synonyms
- Cloying: Excessively sweet, rich, or sentimental, so as to cause disgust.
- Saccharine: Excessively sweet or sentimental.
- Mawkish: Sentimental in a feeble or sickly way.
- Sickly sweet: Unpleasantly or nauseatingly sweet.
Related Idioms
- Ngọt ngào: This means "sweet" but in a positive, pleasant way. "Não nà não nuột" is the negative, excessive counterpart to this.
- Giọng nói ngọt ngào. (A sweet voice.) [Positive]
- Giọng nói não nà não nuột. (A sickeningly sweet voice.) [Negative]