vạc dầu

Definition

Noun:
- Cauldron of boiling oil: A large metal pot containing boiling oil, used historically as a method of execution in feudal times where the condemned person was thrown into it.
- The punishment of the cauldron: The specific punishment or torture method involving being boiled in oil.

Usage Examples

Noun:
- Hình phạt vạc dầu là một trong những hình phạt man rợ thời phong kiến. (The punishment of the cauldron of oil was one of the cruel punishments in feudal times.)
- Tên phản nghịch bị kết án ném vào vạc dầu. (The rebel was sentenced to be thrown into the cauldron of boiling oil.)

Advanced Usage

"tội vạc dầu": The crime punishable by the cauldron of oil.
- Phản quốc xưa kia là tội vạc dầu. (Treason in the past was a crime punishable by the cauldron of oil.)
"hình phạt vạc dầu": The punishment of boiling in oil.
- Sử sách còn ghi chép về những vụ hành hình bằng vạc dầu. (Historical records still document executions using the punishment of boiling in oil.)

Variants and Related Words

Vạc (noun): A large cauldron or pot, often made of metal.
- Vạc đồng (bronze cauldron)
Hình phạt (noun): Punishment, penalty.
Hành hình (verb): To execute.

Synonyms

Related Phrases / Idioms

"Tội đáng bỏ vạc dầu": A crime deserving of being thrown into the cauldron of oil. Used hyperbolically to describe a heinous or terrible crime.
- Phản bội đất nước, tội ấy đáng bỏ vạc dầu. (Betraying the country, that crime deserves the cauldron of oil.)
"Sống dở chết dở như bị bỏ vạc dầu": To be in an extremely difficult and torturous situation, likened to the agony of being boiled in oil.
- Công việc này áp lực quá, tôi cảm thấy sống dở chết dở như bị bỏ vạc dầu. (This job is too stressful; I feel like I'm being boiled in oil.)

Notes on Usage

Historical/Literary Term: The term "vạc dầu" is primarily historical, literary, or used in proverbs. It is not used in modern legal or everyday contexts to describe actual punishments.
Figurative Use: In modern Vietnamese, it is almost exclusively used figuratively in idioms or for dramatic emphasis to describe extreme suffering, severe punishment, or grave wrongdoing.

noun