trơ thổ địa
Definition
- Adjective (informal):
- Completely broke; flat broke; penniless: To have no money left at all, to be in a state of total financial depletion.
- Stunned and motionless; dumbfounded; left speechless: To be so shocked, embarrassed, or scolded that one becomes immobile and unable to react or respond.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Sau chuyến du lịch, ví tôi trơ thổ địa. (After the trip, my wallet is completely empty.)
- Bị phát hiện nói dối, nó đứng trơ thổ địa một chỗ. (Caught lying, he stood there dumbfounded.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase often describes a state of having nothing left, whether money, resources, or even arguments, leaving a person exposed or vulnerable.
- It can imply a sense of being stripped bare, left with nothing to hide behind, leading to the stunned, reactionless state.
Variants and Related Words
Trơ trọi (adj): bare, isolated, exposed.
- Cánh đồng trơ trọi. (The field is bare and isolated.)
Hết sạch (adj/phrase): all gone, completely used up.
- Tiền tiêu hết sạch. (The money was all spent.)
Synonyms
- Penniless: having no money.
- Dumbstruck: so shocked or surprised that one cannot speak.
- Bereft: deprived of or lacking something.
Related Idioms
Trơ như phỗng: to sit/stand still and unresponsive like a statue.
- Nghe tin sốc, anh ấy trơ như phỗng. (Hearing the shocking news, he was as still as a statue.)
Hết tiền hết bạc: to be completely out of money.
- Cuối tháng là hết tiền hết bạc. (By the end of the month, I'm completely out of money.)