độ khẩu

Thân thiện

Cả gia đình ông ấy trước đây chỉ sống độ khẩu bằng nghề làm thuê.

Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To eke out a living; to subsist; to keep body and soul together: To work hard and earn just enough to survive, to barely meet one's basic needs for food and shelter. This phrase emphasizes a state of precarious subsistence.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Gia đình anh ấy phải làm việc cật lực chỉ để độ khẩu. (His family has to work tirelessly just to eke out a living.)
  • Trong thời kỳ khó khăn, họ sống một cuộc sống chỉ đủ độ khẩu. (During the difficult period, they lived a life of mere subsistence.)

Advanced Usage

• This term is considered somewhat archaic or literary in modern Vietnamese. It is more commonly found in historical contexts, classical literature, or when describing past hardships.
• It often carries a connotation of struggle and scarcity, describing a minimal level of existence.

Variants and Related Words

• Sinh sống qua ngày: To live from hand to mouth.
• Kiếm sống: To earn a living (a more common, neutral term).
• Vật lộn với cuộc sống mưu sinh: To struggle for a livelihood.

Synonyms

• Subsist: To maintain or support oneself, especially at a minimal level.
• Scrape by: To manage to live with barely enough money.
• Make ends meet: To have just enough money to pay for one's basic expenses.

Related Idioms

• Đầu tắt mặt tối: (Lit: head extinguished, face dark) To work from dawn till dusk, extremely busy just to make a living.
  • Họ làm việc đầu tắt mặt tối cũng chỉ đủ độ khẩu. (They work tirelessly from dawn till dusk just to scrape by.)
• Cơm áo gạo tiền: (Lit: rice, clothes, money) Referring to the basic material necessities of life and the struggle to afford them.
  • Lo toan chuyện cơm áo gạo tiền, họ chỉ mong đủ độ khẩu. (Worried about basic necessities, they only hope to make ends meet.)

Học thuật

1. Keep one's soul and body together
   • Làm lụng vất vả chỉ vừa đủ độ khẩu
     To work hard and earn enough to keep one's soul and body together