thầy thợ

thầy thợ

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Definition
  1. Noun (Historical):
    • Officials and workers; clerks and laborers: A collective term used during the French colonial period in Vietnam to refer to two main groups: the educated white-collar class ("thầy" - clerks, secretaries, administrators) and the blue-collar working class ("thợ" - skilled workers, laborers).
    • Intermediary; fixer: A person who facilitates or arranges matters, often through connections or influence, especially in the context of a bureaucratic or traditional society where such mediation is necessary to get things done.
Usage Examples
  • Noun (Historical):
    • Trong xã hội thời Pháp thuộc, tầng lớp thầy thợ có đời sống khá hơn nông dân. (In society during the French colonial period, the class of officials and workers had a better life than peasants.)
    • Muốn xin được việc ở công sở ngày trước, phải nhờ đến thầy thợ. (To get a job in an office in the old days, one had to rely on a fixer.)
Advanced Usage
  • The term is primarily historical and sociological, used to describe social stratification and bureaucratic practices of the past. It often carries a connotation of a system where formal procedures were bypassed through personal connections.
Variants and Related Words
  • Thầy (n): Master, teacher, sir; historically used for clerks and low-level officials.
  • Thợ (n): Worker, artisan, craftsman.
  • Công chức (n): Civil servant, official (modern equivalent for "thầy").
  • Công nhân (n): Worker, laborer (modern equivalent for "thợ").
Synonyms
  • Intermediary: A person who acts as a link between people.
  • Fixer: A person who makes arrangements or solves problems, especially by using influence.
  • Clerks and workers: A direct translation of the historical social groups.
Related Idioms/Phrases
  • Phải có thầy thợ việc mới thành: (One) must have a fixer for the matter to succeed. This idiom underscores the perceived necessity of using an intermediary to navigate complex systems or bureaucracy.
    • Việc này rắc rối, đúng là phải có thầy thợ việc mới thành. (This matter is complicated; it's true that you need a fixer for it to succeed.)