Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To loiter or lounge idly on the streets: To stand or spend time aimlessly on public streets or at street corners, often implying a lack of productive activity or purpose.
   • To hang out on the streets: To spend time, typically in a social but idle manner, in public areas like streets or markets.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Độ này nó rất hư, chỉ đứng đường đứng chợ suốt ngày. (These days, that boy is very badly-behaved, doing nothing but lounging at street corners and market-places all day.)
  • Bọn trẻ không nên đứng đường sau giờ học. (The children shouldn't loiter on the streets after school.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase is often intensified or given a broader scope through the fixed, repetitive structure "đứng đường đứng chợ" (to lounge at street corners and market-places). This emphasizes spending idle time in various public spaces.

Variants and Related Words

• Lang thang (v): to wander, to roam. This has a similar sense of being out on the streets but can imply more movement than standing idly.
• Đứng chợ (v): to lounge or loiter at the marketplace. Often used in conjunction with "đứng đường".

Synonyms

• To loiter: To stand or wait around idly without apparent purpose.
• To hang around: To spend time in a place without any specific activity.
• To idle: To spend time doing nothing.

Related Idioms

• Đứng đường đứng chợ: A common idiomatic couplet meaning to spend all one's time idling in public places, strongly implying laziness or a lack of ambition.
  • Công việc thì không làm, suốt ngày chỉ đứng đường đứng chợ. (He doesn't work, just spends all day lounging at street corners and markets.)

1. Lounge at treet corners
   • Đứng đường đứng chợ
     To lounge at street corners and market-places
   • Độ này nó rất hư, chỉ đứng đường đứng chợ suốt ngày
     These days, that boy is very badly-behaved, doing nothing but lounging at street corners and market-places