ấm lạnh

Con cái phải quạt nồng ấm lạnh và phụng dưỡng cha mẹ.

Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Warm and cold: Describes the physical sensations or states of being both warm and cold, often referring to changing weather or temperatures.
   • Fickle / Inconstant: Describes a person's changeable, inconsistent, or unreliable nature, especially in behavior or affection.

2. Noun (in fixed expressions):

   • Parental care: Refers specifically to the filial duty of caring for one's parents, attending to their comfort in all circumstances (from warmth to cold), and providing for their needs.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • Thời tiết mùa xuân hay ấm lạnh thất thường. (Spring weather is often unpredictably warm and cold.)
  • Tính tình anh ta ấm lạnh, lúc thân thiết lúc xa lánh. (His temperament is fickle, sometimes friendly, sometimes aloof.)

• Noun:

  • Làm con, chữ hiếu thể hiện ở việc phụng dưỡng, quạt nồng ấm lạnh cho cha mẹ. (As a child, filial piety is shown in caring for and tending to the warmth and cold of one's parents.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is deeply rooted in Confucian values of filial piety. The full classical phrase is "quạt nồng ấm lạnh" (to fan when it's hot and warm when it's cold), symbolizing the meticulous, constant care a child should provide for their parents.

Variants and Related Words

• Ấm áp (adj): warm (in temperature or feeling).

  • Căn phòng thật ấm áp. (The room is very warm.)

• Lạnh lùng (adj): cold, indifferent (in manner).

  • Cô ấy đối xử rất lạnh lùng với tôi. (She treated me very coldly.)

Synonyms

• Changeable: likely to change; inconstant.
• Unreliable: not able to be relied upon.
• Filial care: the care and duty owed to one's parents.

Related Idioms

• Quạt nồng ấm lạnh: To perform filial duties by tending to one's parents' comfort in heat and cold.
  • Câu chuyện cổ tích ca ngợi đứa con hiếu thảo biết quạt nồng ấm lạnh cho mẹ. (The fairy tale praises the filial child who knows to tend to the mother's warmth and cold.)