Definition

1. Verb:
   • To twiddle with, to toy with: To touch or handle something repeatedly, often out of curiosity, restlessness, or playful mischief, especially with one's hands.
   • To thieve, to steal trivial things: To pilfer or take small, often insignificant items, typically in a sneaky or habitual manner.

Usage Examples

• Verb (to twiddle with):
  • Đứa trẻ táy máy với chiếc điều khiển TV. (The child is twiddling with the TV remote.)
  • Đừng táy máy vào đồ đạc của người khác. (Don't toy with other people's belongings.)
• Verb (to thieve):
  • Nó có tính táy máy, hay lấy trộm bút của bạn. (He has a thieving habit, often stealing pens from classmates.)
  • Mấy cái kẹo trên bàn bị ai đó táy máy mất rồi. (The candies on the table were pilfered by someone.)

Advanced Usage

• "táy máy chân tay": To be fidgety or unable to keep one's hands and feet still; often used to describe restless behavior.
  • Ngồi yên nào, đừng táy máy chân tay thế! (Sit still, stop fidgeting like that!)
• "tính táy máy": A thieving or pilfering habit; a tendency to steal small things.
  • Cô ấy đuổi việc cậu bé vì tính táy máy. (She fired the boy because of his pilfering habit.)

Variants and Related Words

• Mó máy (verb): A near-synonym meaning to touch or handle something, often with a similar connotation of meddling or playful touching.
• Tháy máy (adj/verb): An older or regional variant specifically describing a thieving disposition or the act of petty theft.

Synonyms

• Nghịch ngợm (verb): To mess around, to play mischievously (focuses more on playful mischief than touching).
• Xoay xở (verb): To fiddle with, to manipulate (can imply trying to fix or operate something).
• Ăn cắp vặt (verb phrase): To commit petty theft (direct synonym for the second meaning).

Related Phrases

• Táy máy táy chân: An extended phrase emphasizing restless fidgeting with both hands and feet.
  • Bảo nó ngồi im, nó cứ táy máy táy chân hoài. (I told him to sit still, but he keeps fidgeting nonstop.)

Related Idioms

• Tay chân không yên: Literally "hands and feet are not at peace"; means to be restless or fidgety. This idiom shares the conceptual space with the fidgety aspect of "táy máy".
  • Cậu bé tay chân không yên lúc nào cũng muốn động vào thứ gì đó. (The boy is restless and always wants to touch something.)

verb

1. to twiddle with, to toy with. to thieve, to steal trivial things