Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To feel dizzy or nauseous from smoking: To experience lightheadedness, dizziness, or discomfort immediately after smoking, typically tobacco.
   • To feel unwell from medication: To experience adverse effects such as dizziness, nausea, or disorientation after taking medicine, often due to side effects, overdose, or strong reaction.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Anh ấy hút điếu thuốc đầu tiên và bắt đầu say thuốc. (He smoked his first cigarette and began to feel dizzy from it.)
  • Tôi uống thuốc mà không ăn nên bị say thuốc. (I took the medicine without eating, so I felt nauseous from it.)
  • Đứa trẻ say thuốc sau khi uống sirô ho. (The child felt unwell after drinking the cough syrup.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often implies an immediate, unpleasant physical reaction. It is commonly used in informal contexts to describe a negative experience with a substance, rather than a prescribed therapeutic effect.

Variants and Related Words

• Say xe (v): to experience motion sickness (e.g., in a car or bus).

  • Em gái tôi rất hay say xe. (My younger sister gets carsick very easily.)

• Say rượu (v): to be drunk, to be intoxicated by alcohol.

  • Anh ấy say rượu và không thể lái xe. (He was drunk and could not drive.)

Synonyms

• To feel dizzy from smoking
• To have a bad reaction to medicine
• To be affected adversely by a drug

Related Idioms

• Say như điếu đổ: To be completely intoxicated or heavily under the influence (can refer to alcohol, but can be extended metaphorically).
  • Hắn say thuốc lào, say như điếu đổ. (He was heavily intoxicated from the waterpipe tobacco.)