tiếc của
Definition
- Idiom (Thành ngữ):
- To be stingy; to be overly frugal: The primary meaning refers to a strong reluctance to spend money or use resources, often to an excessive or unreasonable degree. It describes a mindset of hoarding and an exaggerated fear of loss.
- To regret the loss/waste of possessions: It can also express a feeling of regret or心痛 over something lost, spent, or damaged, emphasizing the material value.
Usage Examples
- Idiom:
- Ông ấy tiếc của đến mức không dám bật điều hòa. (He is so stingy that he doesn't dare turn on the air conditioner.)
- Đừng tiếc của, hãy mua thuốc tốt cho bố. (Don't be stingy; buy good medicine for your father.)
- Bà ấy tiếc của chiếc bình vỡ. (She regretted the loss of the broken vase.)
Advanced Usage
- The idiom often carries a critical or disapproving tone, implying that the person's frugality is detrimental to health, happiness, or social norms.
- It can be used in a self-deprecating way: (I am also very stingy.)
Variants and Related Words
- Hà tiện (adj): miserly, stingy. A direct synonym for the character trait.
- Tính anh ta rất hà tiện. (He has a very miserly character.)
- Keo kiệt (adj): parsimonious, tight-fisted. Another strong synonym.
- Người keo kiệt thường tiếc của. (A parsimonious person is often stingy.)
Synonyms
- Stingy: unwilling to give or spend.
- Miserly: characterized by a obsessive desire to hoard wealth.
- Penny-pinching: excessively careful with money.
- To regret the loss of property: to feel sorrow over lost possessions.
Related Idioms
- Tiếc đứt ruột: to regret something intensely (literally, "to regret until one's guts are cut").
- Ôm mối tiếc đứt ruột. (To harbor an intense regret.)
- Ki bo: (colloquial) to be tight-fisted, cheap.
- Anh chàng đó ki bo lắm. (That guy is really cheap.)