Definition

1. Noun:
   • Thunder genie / Thunder deity: A mythical being or spirit in ancient Vietnamese folklore believed to be responsible for creating and controlling thunder and lightning. It represents the personification of a natural force.
   • Blind enforcer: A figurative meaning describing a person who follows orders from superiors mechanically and without question, often to carry out harsh or punitive actions.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Mythological being):
  • Trong truyền thuyết, thiên lôi là vị thần quản lý sấm sét. (In legend, the thunder genie is the deity who manages thunder and lightning.)
• Noun (Figurative: blind enforcer):
  • Hắn ta chỉ là tay sai, một thiên lôi chỉ đâu đánh đấy. (He is just a lackey, a blind enforcer who strikes wherever pointed.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used in the fixed idiom "thiên lôi chỉ đâu đánh đấy" (the thunder genie strikes wherever pointed). This idiom critically describes someone who executes orders from authority slavishly and without independent judgment, akin to a mindless force of nature.

Variants and Related Words

• Lôi công (n): Another name for the thunder deity, emphasizing his role as a "duke" or lord of thunder.
• Sấm sét (n): The literal weather phenomena of thunder and lightning, which the is believed to control.

Synonyms

• Thunder god / Thunder spirit: For the mythological meaning.
• Blind follower / Hatchet man / Unquestioning enforcer: For the figurative meaning.

Related Idioms

• Thiên lôi chỉ đâu đánh đấy: To follow orders blindly and execute them without thought or mercy.
  • Đội ngũ đó hành xử như thiên lôi chỉ đâu đánh đấy, không cần biết đúng sai. (That team acts like blind enforcers, striking wherever pointed, without caring about right or wrong.)

noun

1. thunder genie