Definition

Adjective (Colloquial): Describes a situation, task, or object that requires a significant, often arduous, amount of effort, work, or time to complete or deal with. It implies that what remains is substantial and not easily finished.

Usage

This word is used informally to emphasize the considerable effort or extensive work still needed to finish something. It often describes the remaining part of a task.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Công việc này còn sẩy vẩy lắm. (This job still requires a lot of hard work.)
  • Dọn cái nhà kho cũ này sẩy vẩy thật. (Cleaning out this old warehouse is a huge amount of work.)
  • Còn sẩy vẩy mới xong. (It'll take a lot of hard work before it can be finished off.)

Advanced Usage

• The word is almost exclusively used in negative or challenging contexts to highlight difficulty.
• It can sometimes imply that the task is messy, complicated, or tedious, not just physically hard.

Variants and Related Words

• Sẩy: This root can imply scattering, spilling, or something coming apart/off (e.g., - rice got spilled). The connection to sẩy vẩy is the idea of a task being "all over the place" and difficult to gather/complete.
• Vất vả (adj): Laborious, hard, toilsome. This is a more standard synonym.
• Cồng kềnh (adj): Cumbersome, bulky. Can be used similarly for tasks that are unwieldy.

Synonyms

• Vất vả: Arduous, toilsome.
• Khó nhọc: Laborious, difficult.
• Tốn nhiều công sức: Requiring a lot of effort.
• Dài dòng: Protracted, lengthy (emphasizes time/process).

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Còn nhiều việc phải làm: There is still a lot of work to do. (A more standard phrase with a similar meaning.)
• Đầu tắt mặt tối: (Literally: head extinguished, face dark) Extremely busy, working from dawn till dusk. This describes the state of the person, while sẩy vẩy describes the nature of the task.

1. (thông tục) Take a lot of hard work
   • Còn sẩy vẩy mới xong
     It'll take a lot of hard work before the work can be finished off