xanh cỏ

Definition

1. Adjective (literary, idiomatic):
   • Long dead; having been dead for a long enough time that grass has grown on the grave: A figurative and somewhat poetic term describing someone who died a significant time ago, emphasizing the passage of time since their death through the natural imagery of grass covering their burial site.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Nhân vật lịch sử đó giờ đã xanh cỏ. (That historical figure has long been dead.)
  • Kẻ phản bội ấy chắc giờ xanh cỏ rồi. (That traitor is surely long in the grave by now.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase is typically used in a detached, narrative, or sometimes dismissive tone. It is not used for recent deaths and often carries a connotation that the person or their deeds are a matter of the distant past.

Variants and Related Words

• Xanh rì: (adjective) lush green; very green (literally). This shares the color descriptor "xanh" but is not related to the idiom "xanh cỏ."
• Mồ yên mả đẹp: (idiom) to rest in peace; to have a peaceful grave. This is a more respectful phrase related to death and burial.

Synonyms

• Long dead: deceased for an extended period.
• Pushing up daisies: (English idiom, informal) to be dead and buried.

Related Idioms

• Người thiên cổ: (literary) a person of the past; someone who has passed away. This is a more formal and respectful term for the deceased.
• Đi vào cõi vĩnh hằng: to enter eternity; a euphemism for dying.