Definition

1. Adjective (Tính từ):

   • Extremely difficult, strenuous, or exhausting: Describes a task or situation that requires immense effort and is very tiring.
   • Severe, harsh (in the context of a beating): Describes a physical beating that is very painful and thorough.

2. Adverb (Phó từ):

   • Very strenuously, with great difficulty: Modifies a verb to indicate the action is performed with extreme effort.
   • Severely, soundly (in the context of hitting): Modifies a verb like "đánh" (to hit) to indicate the action is done with great force.

Usage Examples

• As an adjective:

  • Công việc này sặc gạch quá! (This job is extremely exhausting!)
  • Nó bị một trận đòn sặc gạch. (He got a severe beating.)

• As an adverb:

  • Tôi phải làm sặc gạch cả tuần mới xong. (I had to work very strenuously for a whole week to finish.)
  • Đội nhà bị đối thủ đánh cho một trận sặc gạch. (The home team was beaten soundly by their opponent.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase is informal and colloquial, often used in spoken Vietnamese for emphasis. It conveys a sense of being pushed to one's absolute limit.
• It can be used hyperbolically to describe any very difficult situation, not just physical labor.
  • Bài thi hôm nay sặc gạch thật! (Today's exam was brutally difficult!)

Variants and Related Words

• Sặc máu: An even stronger, more vulgar variant. Literally means "to choke on blood." It intensifies the meanings of "sặc gạch," describing something as extremely exhausting or infuriating.
  • Làm sặc máu mà lương thấp. (To work oneself to death for low pay.)
  • Nghe tin đó tức sặc máu. (Hearing that news made me foam with rage.)

Synonyms

• Cực nhọc: Arduous, laborious (more formal than "sặc gạch").
• Vất vả: Difficult, hard (common, less intense).
• Khó nhọc: Hard, strenuous (formal).
• Thậm tệ: Terrible, awful (for the beating context).
• Tơi bời: To be beaten badly, to be in disarray (for the beating context).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Làm sặc gạch: To work extremely hard/to the point of exhaustion.
  • Anh ấy làm sặc gạch để nuôi gia đình. (He works himself to the bone to support his family.)
• Đánh sặc gạch: To beat someone severely.
  • Tên trộm bị dân làng đánh sặc gạch. (The thief was beaten soundly by the villagers.)

Related Idioms

• Đầu tắt mặt tối: (Lit: head extinguished, face dark). Means to be extremely busy from morning till night. Similar in feeling to "làm sặc gạch" but focuses on constant busyness rather than the difficulty of a single task.
• Bán mặt cho đất, bán lưng cho trời: (Lit: sell your face to the earth, sell your back to the sky). Describes back-breaking manual labor under the sun. Shares the theme of extreme physical exertion with "sặc gạch."

1. (thông tục) Stretch one's powers, be fully stretched
   • Làm sặc gạch mà chưa xong
     To stretch one's powers without being able to finish one's job
   • Đánh cho một trận sặc gạch
     To give (someone) a pasting
   • Bị một trận sặc gạch
     To get a pasting
2. Vomit blood
3. Very exhausting, very exacting
   • Làm sặc máu
     To work in a very exhausting way
   • Tức sặc máu
     Choke with anger, foam with rage