xôi thịt
Definition
- Noun:
- Sticky rice with meat: A traditional Vietnamese dish consisting of glutinous rice ("xôi") served with seasoned meat ("thịt"), often pork. It is a common, hearty breakfast or snack food.
- A preoccupation with food / Philistinism: In a figurative and somewhat archaic or literary sense, derived from the French reference, it can denote a person whose main interest is material gratification, especially through eating, or a lack of cultural refinement.
Usage Examples
Noun (literal):
- Sáng nay tôi ăn xôi thịt. (This morning I ate sticky rice with meat.)
- Quán xôi thịt ở góc phố rất nổi tiếng. (The sticky rice with meat shop on the street corner is very famous.)
Noun (figurative):
- Hắn ta chẳng quan tâm nghệ thuật, chỉ lo xôi thịt mà thôi. (He doesn't care about art, he's only concerned with material comforts [like food].)
Advanced Usage
- The figurative usage is less common in everyday modern Vietnamese and is typically found in literary or critical contexts to describe philistine attitudes or crude materialism.
Variants and Related Words
Xôi (n): Sticky rice, a base for many dishes.
- Xôi có thể ăn với nhiều loại thức ăn khác. (Sticky rice can be eaten with many different kinds of food.)
Xôi gà (n): Sticky rice with chicken.
- Xôi gà là món tôi thích nhất. (Sticky rice with chicken is my favorite dish.)
Synonyms
- Sticky rice with pork: A more specific description of the common preparation.
- Materialism: For the figurative sense, indicating a focus on physical pleasures and possessions.
- Philistinism: For the figurative sense, indicating a disregard for culture and aesthetics.
Related Idioms
- Chỉ biết *xôi thịt*: To only know/think about food and base material needs; to be uncultured.
- Con người ấy chỉ biết xôi thịt, nói chuyện nghệ thuật với hắn vô ích. (That person only thinks about material things; talking about art with him is useless.)