thương thân
Một người phụ nữ ngồi một mình trong phòng, thương thân cho hoàn cảnh của mình.
Definition
- Verb phrase:
- To pity oneself / to feel self-pity: The primary meaning of "thương thân" is to feel sorrow, compassion, or pity for one's own difficult situation or unfortunate fate. It implies a reflective, often melancholic, state of feeling sorry for oneself.
- To take care of oneself: In a more literal and less common sense, it can mean to show care and concern for one's own well-being.
Usage Examples
- Verb phrase:
- Cô ấy ngồi một mình, thương thân, tủi phận. (She sat alone, pitying herself, feeling her lot was miserable.)
- Đừng chỉ biết thương thân, hãy đứng lên và hành động. (Don't just feel self-pity; stand up and take action.)
- Anh phải biết thương thân một chút, đừng làm việc quá sức. (You must know how to take care of yourself a little; don't overwork.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase is often used in a poetic or literary context to describe a state of lamentation over one's personal suffering or destiny.
- It is frequently paired with "trách phận" (to blame one's fate) in the fixed expression "thương thân trách phận", meaning to pity oneself and lament one's fate.
- Suốt ngày thương thân trách phận chẳng giải quyết được gì. (Spending all day pitying yourself and blaming your fate solves nothing.)
Variants and Related Words
- Thương hại (v): to pity, to feel compassion for (often for others, but can be reflexive).
- Tôi thương hại hoàn cảnh của cô ấy. (I pity her situation.)
- Tự thương (v): to self-love, to care for oneself (a more direct, less idiomatic form).
Synonyms
- To feel self-pity: To have pity for one's own distress.
- To commiserate with oneself: To express sympathy for one's own troubles.
- To be self-compassionate: To treat oneself with kindness during suffering.
Related Idioms
- Thương thân trách phận: To pity oneself and blame one's fate; to bemoan one's lot in life.
- Bài ca dao đầy tâm trạng thương thân trách phận. (The folk song is full of the sentiment of self-pity and fate-blaming.)