Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
John: Words Referring to People
John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to VietnamesePod101.com. I'm John.
Nguyet: And I'm Nguyet!
John: This is Must-Know Vietnamese Slang Words and Phrases, Season 1, Lesson 2. In this lesson, you'll learn words referring to people.
John: These are words used to refer to a certain group of people or characteristics of people. Do not hesitate to use them on a daily basis.
SLANG EXPRESSIONS
John: The expressions you will be learning in this lesson are:
Nguyet: ô-sin
Nguyet: Tây Balo
Nguyet: đại gia
Nguyet: xe ôm
John: Nguyet, what's our first expression?
Nguyet: ô-sin
John: The literal meaning is the name of a woman in a famous Japanese drama. Her name is Osin. In the drama, she has a hard life and works as a maid for her whole life. But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "maid."
Nguyet: [SLOW] ô-sin [NORMAL] ô-sin
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Nguyet: ô-sin
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this slang expression when you want to talk about a maid. In some contexts or situations, if you use
Nguyet: ô-sin,
John: it may sound a little bit like you are looking down on your maid. So, you can use
Nguyet: người giúp việc
John: which means "helper" instead.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Ô-sin nhà tôi lại xin phép về quê 1 tuần. [SLOW] Ô-sin nhà tôi lại xin phép về quê 1 tuần.
John: "Again, our maid asked us for permission to take one week off to go back to her home in the countryside."
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Ô-sin nhà tôi lại xin phép về quê 1 tuần.
John: Okay, what's the next expression?
Nguyet: Tây Balo
John: literally meaning "Westerner back-packer." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "foreigner back-packer."
Nguyet: [SLOW] Tây Balo [NORMAL] Tây Balo
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Nguyet: Tây Balo
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this slang expression when you want to talk about a Westerner back-packer.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Anh Tây balo kia đang hỏi đường đến bưu điện. [SLOW] Anh Tây balo kia đang hỏi đường đến bưu điện.
John: "That Western back-packer is asking how to get to the post office."
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Anh Tây balo kia đang hỏi đường đến bưu điện.
John: Okay, what's our next expression?
Nguyet: đại gia
John: literally meaning "big house." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "rich person."
Nguyet: [SLOW] đại gia [NORMAL] đại gia
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Nguyet: đại gia
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this slang expression when you want to talk about rich people.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Đại gia hay đi cùng chân dài. [SLOW] Đại gia hay đi cùng chân dài.
John: "Rich men often go with long-legged girls."
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Đại gia hay đi cùng chân dài.
John: Okay, what's the last expression?
Nguyet: xe ôm
John: literally meaning "hugging motorbike." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "taxi-bike, or a female’s boyfriend."
Nguyet: [SLOW] xe ôm [NORMAL] xe ôm
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Nguyet: xe ôm
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this slang expression when you want to imply "a female's boyfriend." Be careful when you use this word because
Nguyet: xe ôm
John: actually is used to talk about a taxi-bike. The boyfriend might feel offended if he is not humorous.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Xe ôm đâu mà sao lại để em đi bộ đến đây? [SLOW] Xe ôm đâu mà sao lại để em đi bộ đến đây?
John: "Where is your boyfriend while you are walking all the way here?"
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Xe ôm đâu mà sao lại để em đi bộ đến đây?
QUIZ
John: Okay listeners, are you ready to be quizzed on the expressions you just learned? I will describe four situations, and you will choose the right expression to use in your reply. Are you ready?
John: You see some foreigners with backpacks on, you refer to them as:
[pause - 5 sec.]
Nguyet: Tây Balo
John: "foreigner back-packer"
John: When you refer to a maid in a casual situation, calling her the name of a series’ heroine.
[pause - 5 sec.]
Nguyet: ô-sin
John: "maid"
John: When you refer to your friend’s boyfriend in a humorous way, you say:
[pause - 5 sec.]
Nguyet: xe ôm
John: "taxi-bike, or a female’s boyfriend"
John: Someone builds a big house in the neighborhood, that person must be...
[pause - 5 sec.]
Nguyet: đại gia
John: "rich person"

Outro

John: There you have it; you have mastered four Vietnamese Slang Expressions! We have more vocab lists available at VietnamesePod101.com so be sure to check them out. Thanks everyone, and see you next time!
Nguyet: Tạm biệt.

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