to chuyện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Exaggerated / Overblown: Describing a situation, reaction, or story that is made to seem much more important, serious, or dramatic than it really is. It implies creating a big deal out of something minor.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Đừng có to chuyện lên, chuyện nhỏ thôi mà. (Don't make a mountain out of a molehill; it's just a small matter.)
- Anh ấy hay to chuyện mọi việc lên. (He often exaggerates everything.)
- Cô ấy đã biến một lỗi nhỏ thành to chuyện. (She turned a small mistake into a big deal.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is almost exclusively used in the fixed phrase "làm to chuyện" (to make something a big deal) or with verbs like "thổi phồng" (to inflate) to describe the act of exaggeration itself.
- Báo chí đôi khi làm to chuyện để thu hút độc giả. (The press sometimes blows things out of proportion to attract readers.)
Variants and Related Words
- Làm to chuyện (verb phrase): to make a big deal out of something, to exaggerate the importance of an event.
- Họ có tài làm to chuyện những vấn đề đơn giản. (They have a talent for making a big deal out of simple problems.)
Synonyms
- Exaggerated: Represented as greater than is true or reasonable.
- Overblown: Made to seem more important or impressive than is the case.
- Blown out of proportion: Describing a minor issue treated as a major one.
Related Idioms
- Làm to chuyện / Làm to chuyện lên: This is the core idiom containing "to chuyện." It directly translates as "to make (it) a big story" and means to exaggerate or make a mountain out of a molehill.
- Chỉ là một cuộc cãi vã nhỏ, đừng làm to chuyện lên. (It's just a little argument; don't make a big deal out of it.)