trám miệng
Definition
- Verb (colloquial, often vulgar):
- To shut (someone) up / to silence (someone): To prevent someone from speaking, typically by using bribery, threats, or force.
- To bribe into silence: To give money or favors to someone to ensure their silence or non-interference, especially regarding wrongdoing.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Hắn định dùng tiền để trám miệng nhân chứng. (He intended to use money to shut the witness up.)
- Chính quyền độc tài tìm cách trám miệng phe báo chí chỉ trích. (The authoritarian regime seeks to silence the critical press.)
- Vụ hối lộ nhằm mục đích trám miệng các viên chức. (The bribery was aimed at bribing the officials into silence.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is highly informal and carries a strong negative connotation, implying underhanded, corrupt, or coercive methods. It is not used in formal or neutral contexts.
Variants and Related Words
- Bịt miệng (v): To gag; to physically prevent someone from speaking. It can be used literally or figuratively similar to "trám miệng," but "bịt miệng" can be less specific about the method (e.g., could be through intimidation, not necessarily bribery).
- Mua chuộc (v): To bribe or buy off. This is a more general term for bribery, while "trám miệng" specifies the purpose of the bribe is to secure silence.
Synonyms
- To gag: To stop someone from speaking freely.
- To muzzle: To prevent someone from expressing opinions.
- To pay off: To give someone money to prevent them from causing trouble or revealing information.
Related Idioms
- Đút tiền để trám miệng: Literally "to stuff money to seal the mouth," a more explicit phrase meaning to bribe someone for their silence.
- Kẻ gian đã đút tiền để trám miệng người giúp việc. (The crook stuffed money to seal the housemaid's mouth / bribed the housemaid into silence.)