tô hồng
Definition
- Verb:
- To paint in rosy colors / to glorify: To describe something in an excessively positive, idealized, or beautified way, often by exaggerating its good qualities and omitting its flaws. It implies making something appear better than it really is.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Bài báo đó đã tô hồng thực tế khó khăn của đất nước. (That article painted a rosy picture of the country's difficult reality.)
- Đừng tô hồng sự việc, hãy nói đúng sự thật. (Don't glorify the matter; tell the truth.)
- Họ có xu hướng tô hồng quá khứ. (They have a tendency to romanticize the past.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is often used in political, social, or historical discourse to criticize biased reporting or narratives that whitewash problems.
- Việc tô hồng lịch sử có thể dẫn đến nhận thức sai lệch. (Glorifying history can lead to a distorted perception.)
Variants and Related Words
- Đẹp hóa (v): to beautify, to make something appear beautiful (often superficially).
- Lý tưởng hóa (v): to idealize.
- Tô vẽ (v): to embellish, to decorate (often used figuratively for speech/writing).
Synonyms
- To embellish: To make a story more interesting by adding details that are not true.
- To romanticize: To deal with or describe in an idealized, unrealistic fashion.
- To whitewash: To conceal unpleasant facts about someone or something.
Related Idioms
- Tô son trát phấn: Literally "to apply lipstick and powder"; figuratively means to prettify or cover up flaws with superficial measures.
- Đó chỉ là hành động tô son trát phấn cho những vấn đề cốt lõi. (That is just an act of putting lipstick on the core problems.)