đỡ lòng
Definition
- Verb phrase:
- To stave off hunger: To consume something, often a small or simple amount of food or drink, to temporarily reduce the feeling of hunger while waiting for a proper meal.
- To take the edge off one's hunger: To make the feeling of hunger less sharp or urgent for a short period.
Usage Examples
- Verb phrase:
- Ăn tạm miếng bánh này cho đỡ lòng. (Eat this piece of cake for now to stave off the hunger.)
- Uống cốc sữa đỡ lòng trước khi ăn tối. (Drink a glass of milk to take the edge off your hunger before dinner.)
- Chúng tôi ăn chút hoa quả cho đỡ lòng trong lúc chờ món chính. (We ate some fruit to stave off our hunger while waiting for the main course.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase often implies a temporary, stop-gap solution for hunger. It is used in casual contexts about managing appetite.
- It can sometimes carry a slight nuance of making oneself feel better or less anxious about being hungry, not just physically addressing the hunger.
Variants and Related Words
- Chống đói (verb phrase): to fight hunger, often used similarly to mean to stave off hunger.
- Ăn tạm (verb phrase): to eat temporarily or provisionally.
Synonyms
- To appease one's hunger: To satisfy hunger, at least partially or temporarily.
- To tide oneself over: To help oneself survive a period of need, especially hunger, until a proper solution arrives.
Related Idioms
- Ăn đỡ buồn miệng: To eat to relieve boredom in one's mouth (i.e., to snack for something to do, not primarily for hunger). This idiom shares the structure "ăn đỡ..." (eat to relieve...) but targets boredom rather than hunger.
- Uống đỡ khát: To drink to temporarily relieve thirst, following the same pattern as "đỡ lòng."