vo viên
Definition
- Verb:
- To crumple into a ball: The primary meaning of "vo viên" is the action of crushing or squeezing a soft, flexible object (typically paper or fabric) into a rough, spherical shape with one's hand.
- To ball up: It describes forming something into a loose, often messy, ball by hand.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Cậu bé vo viên tờ giấy và ném vào thùng rác. (The boy crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it in the trash.)
- Cô ấy vo viên chiếc áo và bỏ vào vali. (She balled up the shirt and put it in the suitcase.)
- Đừng vo viên bài tập của con! (Don't crumple up your homework!)
Advanced Usage
- The action often implies carelessness, haste, or disposal. The resulting ball ("viên") is not neat or precise.
- It can be used metaphorically to describe treating something valuable (like an idea or effort) with disregard.
Variants and Related Words
- Vo tròn (v): to roll into a round shape. This can imply a slightly more careful or deliberate action than "vo viên."
- Cô ấy vo tròn viên thịt để làm chả. (She rolled the meat into a round ball to make meatballs.)
Synonyms
- Crumple (up): to crush something into a creased mass.
- Ball up: to form into a ball shape.
- Scrunch up: to squeeze or crush something.
Related Idioms
- While "vo viên" itself is not typically part of a fixed idiom, the concept appears in expressions about discarding or rendering something useless, such as the idea of "vo viên ý tưởng" (balling up/crumpling an idea).