trật lất
Definition
Adjective/Adverbial phrase (colloquial, Southern Vietnamese dialect):
- Completely wrong/off the mark: Describes something that is entirely incorrect, inaccurate, or has missed its target completely.
- A complete miss/failure: Indicates an action that has failed utterly or missed its objective by a wide margin.
Verb phrase (used with verbs like "bắn", "nói", "đoán"):
- To do something completely wrong: To perform an action, such as shooting, guessing, or speaking, with a result that is totally off-target or erroneous.
Usage Examples
Adjective/Adverbial:
- Lời đoán của nó trật lất rồi. (His guess was completely off the mark.)
- Bản báo cáo này sai trật lất. (This report is utterly wrong.)
Verb phrase:
- Tay súng bắn trật lất. (The shooter fired and missed completely.)
- Đừng có nói trật lất nghe. (Don't say something that's totally wrong, okay?)
Advanced Usage
- Often used for emphasis in informal Southern Vietnamese speech to stress the totality of an error or miss. It carries a stronger connotation than just "trật" (to miss or be wrong).
Variants and Related Words
Trật (v/adj): to miss; to be wrong or off. The core word, without the emphatic "lất".
- Anh ấy đoán trật rồi. (He guessed wrong.)
Sai trật (phrase): wrong and off; incorrect.
- Con số sai trật. (The number is incorrect.)
Synonyms
- Completely incorrect: Wholly wrong.
- Way off: Far from correct or accurate.
- A total miss: A complete failure to hit a target.
Related Idioms
- Trật đường ray (idiom, lit. "to derail"): To be wildly off-topic or incorrect. This shares the conceptual space of being completely off course.
- Bài phát biểu của anh ấy trật đường ray. (His speech went completely off the rails.)