phèn
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- Alum: A general term for a type of double sulfate salt, often used for water purification or in traditional medicine and cooking.
- (Short for 'phèn chua') Alum (specifically potassium alum): A specific type of alum commonly used in Vietnam.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Người ta dùng phèn để lọc nước. (People use alum to purify water.)
- Công thức làm mứt dừa có một chút phèn. (The recipe for coconut candy has a little bit of alum.)
- Nước giếng này đục, cần đánh phèn. (This well water is murky; it needs to have alum added.)
Advanced Usage
"đánh phèn": To treat (water) with alum. This refers to the process of adding alum to cloudy water to make impurities clump together and settle.
- Trước khi có hệ thống lọc, nhiều gia đình phải đánh phèn cho nước giếng. (Before having a filtration system, many families had to treat well water with alum.)
"chua như phèn": (As) sour as alum. An idiom describing something extremely sour.
- Quả xoài này chua như phèn. (This mango is as sour as alum.)
Variants and Related Words
Phèn chua (n): Potassium alum, the most common and traditional type of alum used in Vietnam.
- Mua ít phèn chua về đánh nước. (Buy some potassium alum to treat the water.)
Cá phèn (n): A type of fish (likely named for its silvery-white color, resembling the color of alum crystals).
- Canh chua nấu với cá phèn rất ngon. (Sour soup cooked with butterfish is very delicious.)
Synonyms
- Phèn nhôm (n): Aluminum sulfate (a specific type of alum used in water treatment and industry).
- Chất keo tụ (n): Coagulant (a general term for substances that cause particles to clump together).
Related Idioms
- "Ăn phèn": To "eat alum". A colloquial expression meaning to suffer a bitter or humiliating experience, to fail miserably.
- Đội bóng đó ăn phèn với tỉ số 5-0. (That team suffered a humiliating defeat with a score of 5-0.)