đanh đá

Một người phụ nữ đanh đá đang cau mày và chỉ tay.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Sharp-tongued; shrewish; tart: Describes a person, typically a woman, who has a harsh, scolding, and quarrelsome manner of speaking. It implies a tendency to be verbally aggressive, nagging, or ill-tempered.
   • Acrimonious; caustic: Can describe speech or behavior that is bitter and cutting.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Cô ấy nổi tiếng là người đanh đá. (She is known as a sharp-tongued person.)
  • Bà ta trả lời bằng một giọng đanh đá. (She answered in a tart/shrewish tone.)
  • Tính tình đanh đá khiến cô ấy khó kết bạn. (Her shrewish disposition makes it hard for her to make friends.)

Advanced Usage

• The term often carries a gendered connotation, historically and colloquially used more frequently to describe women perceived as nagging or ill-natured. In modern usage, it can be applied to anyone displaying such verbal behavior, though the gendered nuance may remain.

Variants and Related Words

• Đanh (adj): Can mean firm, sharp, or resonant (e.g., a sharp sound). This root contributes to the sharp, hard quality implied in "đanh đá."
• Đá để (adj, colloquial): A variant form with identical meaning.

Synonyms

• Shrewish: (of a woman) nagging and bad-tempered.
• Acrimonious: Angry and bitter in tone or manner.
• Caustic: Sarcastic in a scathing and bitter way.
• Sharp-tongued: Characterized by harsh or critical speech.

Antonyms

• Dịu dàng: gentle, sweet-tempered.
• Hiền lành: kind, gentle.
• Ôn hòa: mild-mannered, gentle.

Related Idioms

• Miệng lưỡi đanh đá: To have a sharp tongue.
  • Cẩn thận với bà ấy, bà ấy có miệng lưỡi đanh đá lắm. (Be careful with her, she has a very sharp tongue.)