đấm mõm
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb (colloquial, vulgar):
- To bribe, to grease someone's palm: The act of giving money or gifts to someone, especially an official, to obtain a favor, circumvent rules, or influence a decision. It implies a covert, illicit transaction.
- To silence or subdue through bribery or force: The phrase carries a secondary connotation of using a payoff to "punch" or shut someone's mouth ("mõm" is a vulgar term for mouth), stopping them from complaining, exposing something, or interfering.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Hắn định đấm mõm cảnh sát để khỏi bị phạt. (He tried to bribe the police officer to avoid getting a ticket.)
- Muốn việc đó thông qua nhanh, có khi phải đấm mõm vài người. (To get that matter approved quickly, sometimes you have to grease a few palms.)
- Cứ đấm mõm nó một phát cho nó im. (Just bribe him to shut him up.)
Advanced Usage
- This term is highly informal and vulgar. It is used in casual, often cynical speech about corruption and is not suitable for formal or polite contexts.
- The imagery is aggressive, combining "đấm" (to punch) with "mõm" (snout/mouth), suggesting a forceful way to gain compliance or silence.
Variants and Related Words
- Đấm họng (colloquial, vulgar): A direct synonym, meaning the same thing ("họng" means throat).
- Hối lộ (verb): The standard, formal term for "to bribe". This is the appropriate word for legal and formal contexts.
- Phong bì (noun, euphemistic): Literally "envelope," often used as a euphemism for a bribe, as in "đưa phong bì" (to give an envelope).
Synonyms
- Bribe: To persuade someone to act in one's favor by a gift of money or other inducement.
- Grease someone's palm (idiom): To give someone money in order to get them to do something, especially something dishonest.
- Buy off (phrasal verb): To pay someone to stop them from causing trouble or threatening you.
Related Phrases/Idioms
- Chạy chọt: To run around (using connections and often bribes) to get something done. This is a broader, slightly less vulgar term for using influence and illicit incentives.
- Có tiền mua tiên cũng được: A cynical proverb meaning "With money, you can even buy a fairy," reflecting a belief that money (and by extension, bribes) can solve any problem.
- (thông tục) như đấm họng