Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Amateur; non-professional: Describes a person who engages in an activity, especially a job or craft, without formal training or professional expertise in that specific field. It implies learning through practice or self-teaching rather than through a structured educational or apprenticeship path.
   • Unskilled; layperson: Refers to someone who is not a specialist or expert in a particular area, often entering it from a different, unrelated background.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Anh ấy là một thợ mộc tay ngang. (He is an amateur carpenter.)
  • Cô ấy chụp ảnh rất đẹp dù chỉ là tay ngang. (She takes very beautiful photos even though she's just an amateur.)
  • Đội bóng có nhiều cầu thủ tay ngang. (The team has many amateur players.)

Advanced Usage

• The term often carries a neutral or slightly humble connotation, acknowledging a lack of formal credentials while not necessarily implying low quality. It can sometimes suggest resourcefulness.
• It is commonly used to describe someone who has switched careers or taken up a new skill later in life without traditional training.

Variants and Related Words

• Làm tay ngang (verb phrase): To work as an amateur; to do something in an untrained, non-professional capacity.
  • Ông ấy làm tay ngang nghề sửa xe. (He works as an amateur car mechanic.)

Synonyms

• Amateur: A person who engages in a pursuit on an unpaid, non-professional basis.
• Untrained: Not having been taught the necessary skills.
• Layperson: A person without professional or specialized knowledge in a particular subject.

Related Idioms

• Tay ngang tay dọc: This idiom intensifies the meaning, emphasizing a state of being a complete amateur or novice, often struggling or being unskilled.
  • Mới vào nghề, anh ấy còn tay ngang tay dọc. (Just entering the profession, he is still very much a novice.)

adj

1. amateur