Definition

1. Verb:
   • To be burdened with, to be saddled with: To have to carry or be responsible for something (or someone) that is considered an extra load, a hindrance, or a troublesome attachment, often causing difficulty or slowing down progress.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Anh ấy không muốn đèo bòng thêm trách nhiệm. (He doesn't want to be burdened with more responsibility.)
  • Cô ấy cảm thấy cuộc sống tự do hơn sau khi không còn đèo bòng món nợ cũ. (She feels freer in life after no longer being saddled with the old debt.)

Advanced Usage

• "đèo bòng vợ con": To be burdened with a family (wife and children). This phrase often implies the responsibilities of family life are seen as a heavy load, especially in contexts of poverty or struggle.

  • Thu nhập ít ỏi mà lại đèo bòng vợ con, anh ấy sống rất vất vả. (With a meager income and being burdened with a family, he lives very hard.)

• "đèo bòng thuốc xái": To be burdened with an opium addiction. This is a historical/colloquial phrase describing addiction as a crippling burden.

  • Cả gia tài tiêu tan vì ông ấy đèo bòng thuốc xái. (The entire fortune was lost because he was burdened with an opium addiction.)

Variants and Related Words

• Đèo (verb): To give someone a ride (on a bicycle, motorbike); to carry along. This is the root verb implying carrying an extra load.
• Bòng (This word is almost exclusively used in the compound "đèo bòng". Its standalone meaning is obscure in modern Vietnamese, but in this idiom, it reinforces the sense of a dangling, clinging burden.)

Synonyms

• Gánh vác: To shoulder (responsibility). This has a more positive, voluntary connotation of taking on duty.
• Mang vác: To carry, to bear (a load). More literal.
• Vương vít: To be entangled with, to be involved with (often romantically or in complicated situations). This synonym is closer to the "romantic entanglement" sense sometimes associated with "đèo bòng".

Different Meanings / Nuances

• While the core meaning is "to be burdened with", the word can sometimes carry a nuance of romantic or emotional entanglement, especially in older or literary contexts. It can imply being tied down by a relationship.
  • Chàng trai ấy chẳng muốn đèo bòng mối tình nào. (That young man doesn't want to be entangled with any romance.)

Notes

• "Đèo bòng" is an idiomatic compound verb. It is used figuratively and almost always has a negative connotation, describing an unwanted or cumbersome addition to one's life or situation.
• The word "bòng" in this compound is not used independently in modern Vietnamese with this meaning. The strength of the expression lies in the combined imagery of "carrying" () a "dangling, clinging weight" ().

1. Be burdened with
   • Đèo bòng vợ con
     To be burdened with family
   • Đèo bòng thuốc xái
     To be burdened with opium addiction