tẻo tèo teo
Definition
- Adjective:
- Extremely small, tiny, or insignificant: Describes something that is very small in size, amount, or importance, often to an exaggerated or emphatic degree. It is a reduplicative form that intensifies the meaning of being small or meager.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Công ty mới chỉ có lợi nhuận tẻo tèo teo. (The company only made a tiny, insignificant profit.)
- Mảnh vườn sau nhà tẻo tèo teo. (The backyard garden is extremely small.)
- Phần thưởng cho người thắng cuộc chỉ tẻo tèo teo. (The prize for the winner is just a pittance.)
Advanced Usage
- The word "tẻo tèo teo" is often used in a colloquial, slightly humorous, or dismissive tone to emphasize the negligible nature of something. It is more expressive than a simple word like "nhỏ" (small).
Variants and Related Words
- Tèo teo (adj): very small, meager. This is the base form from which "tẻo tèo teo" is derived through reduplication for added emphasis.
- Thu nhập của anh ấy chỉ tèo teo. (His income is just meager.)
Synonyms
- Minuscule: extremely small.
- Paltry: ridiculously or insultingly small.
- Negligible: so small or unimportant as to be not worth considering.
- Meager: lacking in quantity or quality.
Related Idioms
- While "tẻo tèo teo" itself is not typically part of a fixed idiom, it is used in similar contexts to the idiom:
- Nhỏ như hạt tiêu: as small as a pepper corn (i.e., very small).