ráo cỏ

Definition
  1. Adjective:
    • Dry grass: The literal meaning refers to grass that has dried out, often used in a specific cultural context.
    • Impatient for remarriage (figurative): A figurative and idiomatic meaning describing a widow who is impatient for her husband's grave to become overgrown with dry grass so she can remarry, symbolizing a lack of proper mourning or excessive haste to move on.
Usage Examples
  • Adjective (Figurative):
    • Chồng cô ấy mới mất được mấy tháng mà đã thấy ráo cỏ, tìm người mới rồi. (Her husband just passed away a few months ago, and she's already impatient to remarry, looking for someone new.)
    • Câu chuyện dân gian ấy là nguồn gốc của thành ngữ ráo cỏ. (That folk tale is the origin of the idiom "dry grass".)
Advanced Usage
  • The term is almost exclusively used in its idiomatic, figurative sense to criticize a widow's perceived improper haste to remarry. It carries a strong negative connotation of disrespect and impatience.
Variants and Related Words
  • Ráo (adj): dry, dried up.
    • Con đường đã ráo sau cơn mưa. (The road was dry after the rain.)
  • Cỏ (n): grass, weed.
    • Cỏ mọc đầy trong sân. (Grass grows all over the yard.)
Synonyms
  • Impatient for remarriage: eager to marry again quickly after a spouse's death.
  • Lacking in mourning: showing insufficient grief or respect for the deceased.
Related Idioms
  • Ráo cỏ bờ mồ: A fuller version of the idiom, explicitly referencing the husband's grave. It means the same as "ráo cỏ."
    • Bà ta bị làng xóm chê cười là kẻ ráo cỏ bờ mồ. (She was mocked by the villagers as someone impatient for her husband's grave to dry.)