xách tai
Definition
- Verb phrase:
- To pull someone by the ear: To physically take hold of a person's ear and pull on it, typically as a form of punishment, reprimand, or to forcefully lead them somewhere.
- To reprimand or punish severely: Used figuratively to describe the act of scolding, disciplining, or giving someone a severe talking-to.
Usage Examples
- Verb phrase:
- Bố mẹ có thể xách tai đứa trẻ hư. (Parents might pull a naughty child by the ear.)
- Giám đốc xách tai nhân viên vì sai sót nghiêm trọng. (The director gave the employee a severe reprimand for a serious mistake.)
- Thầy giáo nổi giận, định xách tai cậu học sinh. (The teacher got angry and intended to pull the student by the ear.)
Advanced Usage
- The action is often associated with authority figures (parents, teachers, bosses) disciplining someone of lower status or power (children, students, subordinates).
- It implies a forceful, humiliating, and sometimes public act of correction.
Variants and Related Words
- Kéo tai (v): A less common, more literal synonym meaning to pull the ear.
- Mắng mỏ (v): To scold or tell off (does not involve physical action).
- Trừng phạt (v): To punish.
Synonyms
- To drag by the ear: To pull someone along by the ear.
- To haul someone over the coals: To reprimand severely (figurative idiom).
- To discipline physically: To punish using physical means.
Related Idioms
- Xách tai lôi đi: To drag someone off by the ear; emphasizes the action of leading someone away forcefully.
- Nó làm ồn trong thư viện và bị bảo vệ xách tai lôi đi. (He was noisy in the library and was dragged off by the ear by the guard.)