xốc xáo
Definition
- Verb:
- To rummage / to rifle through: To search or handle something in a hurried, careless, or disorderly manner, often causing mess or disarray.
- To fidget with / to mess with: To handle or touch something restlessly or unnecessarily, often causing irritation.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Đừng xốc xáo giấy tờ của tôi. (Don't rummage through my papers.)
- Bọn trẻ xốc xáo đống đồ chơi lên tìm con gấu bông. (The children rummaged through the pile of toys to find the teddy bear.)
- Cô ấy cứ xốc xáo mớ tóc rối. (She kept fidgeting with her tangled hair.)
Advanced Usage
- The word often carries a negative connotation, implying a search that is invasive, untidy, or disrespectful of order.
- It can be used figuratively to describe interfering with abstract things like plans or ideas in a disruptive way.
- Anh ta xốc xáo mọi kế hoạch mà chúng tôi đã lập. (He messed up all the plans we had made.)
Variants and Related Words
- Lục lọi (v): to search thoroughly, to rummage. This is a close synonym but can imply a more deliberate search than .
- Cô ấy lục lọi trong túi tìm chìa khóa. (She rummaged in her bag for the keys.)
Synonyms
- Rummage: to search untidily through a mass of objects.
- Rifle through: to search quickly through something, especially to steal or find something.
- Fiddle with: to keep touching or moving something with your hands.
Related Idioms
- While itself is not typically part of a fixed idiom, its meaning is central to phrases describing disorderly action.
- Làm việc xốc xáo: to work in a hasty, careless, and disorderly manner.
- Đừng làm việc xốc xáo như thế, hãy bình tĩnh và cẩn thận. (Don't work in such a rushed and messy way; be calm and careful.)