tẳn mẳn
Definition
- Adjective:
- Fussy, overly meticulous, or nitpicky: Describes a person who pays excessive attention to minor, often trivial, details, sometimes in an annoying or petty manner. This word often carries a negative connotation of being unnecessarily finicky.
- Persistently detailed: Can describe an action or behavior characterized by persistent and minute attention to detail.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Bà ấy tính tình rất tẳn mẳn. (Her personality is very fussy.)
- Anh ta tẳn mẳn kiểm tra từng lỗi nhỏ. (He fussily checks every small error.)
- Đừng có tẳn mẳn với chuyện vặt vãnh ấy. (Don't be so nitpicky about that trivial matter.)
Advanced Usage
- The word tẳn mẳn is considered a regional variant, primarily used in some Northern Vietnamese dialects. It is synonymous with the more common standard word tẩn mẩn.
Variants and Related Words
- Tẩn mẩn (adj): The standard form meaning fussy, meticulous over small details.
- Cô ấy tẩn mẩn sắp xếp lại từng cuốn sách. (She meticulously rearranged each book.)
Synonyms
- Fussy: Overly concerned with unimportant details.
- Nitpicky: Looking for small, insignificant faults.
- Meticulous: Showing great attention to detail (can be neutral or positive, whereas is often negative).
- Finicky: Excessively particular or demanding.
Related Idioms
- While no direct idioms use tẳn mẳn, the concept is related to behaviors described as:
- Bới lông tìm vết: Literally "to part the feathers to find a blemish," meaning to nitpick or find fault where there is none.
- Sếp lúc nào cũng bới lông tìm vết. (The boss is always nitpicking.)