Definition

1. Noun:
   • A sharp-ended carrying pole: A pole, typically made of bamboo or wood, with sharpened ends used for carrying loads, especially by balancing it across the shoulders with a load suspended from each end.
   • An inciter of both sides / A double-edged provocation: A metaphorical meaning describing a person or action that deliberately provokes or incites conflict between two opposing parties.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Literal):
  • Người nông dân gánh hai thúng lúa bằng một chiếc đòn xóc. (The farmer carried two baskets of rice using a sharp-ended carrying pole.)
  • Đòn xóc là công cụ lao động quen thuộc ở vùng nông thôn Việt Nam ngày xưa. (The sharp-ended carrying pole was a familiar labor tool in the Vietnamese countryside in the past.)
• Noun (Figurative):
  • Hắn ta chính là kẻ đòn xóc hai đầu, luôn tìm cách xúi giục hai bên đánh nhau. (He is the inciter of both sides, always trying to instigate a fight between the two parties.)
  • Lời nói của anh ấy như một đòn xóc, làm tình hình căng thẳng thêm. (His words were like a double-edged provocation, making the situation more tense.)

Advanced Usage

• The figurative usage is almost exclusively found in the fixed phrase "đòn xóc hai đầu" (literally: a two-ended sharp pole). It vividly describes a treacherous act of pitting two sides against each other for one's own benefit.
• This term carries a strongly negative connotation, implying cunning, malice, and deliberate trouble-making.

Variants and Related Words

• Đòn gánh (n): A carrying pole (typically without sharpened ends, often with fixed hooks or ropes for baskets). This is the more common, general term for a carrying pole.
• Kẻ xúi giục (n): An instigator, an agitator. A direct synonym for the figurative meaning.
• Kẻ châm ngòi (n): A provocateur, a person who lights the fuse (of conflict).

Synonyms

• (For the figurative sense) Kẻ gây hấn: An aggressor, a troublemaker.
• (For the figurative sense) Hành động khiêu khích: A provocative action.

Related Idioms

• Đâm bị thóc, chọc bị gạo: (To poke the rice basket, to poke the glutinous rice basket). An idiom meaning to stir up trouble on all sides, very similar in meaning to "đòn xóc hai đầu".

1. Sharp-ended carrying pole
   • Đòn xóc hai đầu
     Incitier of both sides