tối đất
Definition
- Noun:
- Complete darkness / pitch darkness: Refers to the period of deep night when it is completely dark, often before dawn or after dusk when no natural light is present.
- The dead of night: Emphasizes the time when night is at its darkest and deepest.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Ông ấy phải đi làm từ lúc tối đất. (He has to go to work when it is still pitch dark.)
- Chúng tôi về đến nhà lúc tối đất. (We arrived home in the dead of night.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase "tối đất" is often used to describe an early morning or late evening time characterized by an absolute lack of light, highlighting difficulty or inconvenience.
- Công việc này bắt đầu từ tối đất. (This job starts in the pitch black of early morning.)
Variants and Related Words
- Tối om (adj): pitch-black, very dark.
- Trong rừng thì tối om. (It's pitch-black inside the forest.)
- Tối trời (adj): dark (of sky or weather).
- Trời đang tối trời vì sắp có mưa. (The sky is dark because rain is coming.)
Synonyms
- Pitch darkness: Total absence of light.
- The dead of night: The middle of the night when it is darkest and quietest.
Related Idioms
- Tối như đêm ba mươi: As dark as the night of the 30th (of the lunar calendar, when there is no moon); meaning extremely dark.
- Đường làng không có đèn, tối như đêm ba mươi. (The village road has no lights; it's as dark as a moonless night.)