Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
John: Slang Used as Nouns, part 1
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 20. In this lesson, you'll learn slang used as nouns.
John: These nouns are used to refer to something other than their real meanings. Learn why and you can soon master them!
SLANG EXPRESSIONS
John: The expressions you will be learning in this lesson are:
Nguyet: lưới tình
Nguyet: chai
Nguyet: cá gỗ
Nguyet: khoai
John: Nguyet, what's our first expression?
Nguyet: lưới tình
John: literally meaning "the net of love." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "love net."
Nguyet: [SLOW] lưới tình [NORMAL] lưới tình
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Nguyet: lưới tình
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this slang expression when you talk about someone who has fallen in love passionately. Mostly in a joking sense.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Chị không biết à? Anh ta lại mới vướng vào lưới tình với một cô gái khác rồi. [SLOW] Chị không biết à? Anh ta lại mới vướng vào lưới tình với một cô gái khác rồi.
John: "Haven't you heard about it? He has fallen in love with another girl."
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Chị không biết à? Anh ta lại mới vướng vào lưới tình với một cô gái khác rồi.
John: Okay, what's the next expression?
Nguyet: chai
John: literally meaning "bottle." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "million."
Nguyet: [SLOW] chai [NORMAL] chai
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Nguyet: chai
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this slang expression when you talk about Vietnamese money - dong. Do not use it when talking with old people, as they might find it rude.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Đôi giày Gucci này có giá cả chục chai ý nhỉ? [SLOW] Đôi giày Gucci này có giá cả chục chai ý nhỉ?
John: "This pair of Gucci shoes must be millions of dong?"
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Đôi giày Gucci này có giá cả chục chai ý nhỉ?
John: Okay, what's our next expression?
Nguyet: cá gỗ
John: literally meaning "wooden fish." This word comes from a folk story about a poor father who doesn't have money to buy food for his children and instead he buys a wooden fish to place in front of his kids during meals and tells them to think about it as a real fish they are eating with white rice to save money. But nowadays, this word is used in a negative way to describe or criticize someone being stingy. When it's used as a slang expression, it means "stingy, penny-pinching."
Nguyet: [SLOW] cá gỗ [NORMAL] cá gỗ
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Nguyet: cá gỗ
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this slang expression when you want to talk about someone who is very stingy and overly frugal about his or her money. It's a noun but can be used as an adjective in some situations.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Rẻ đến vậy mà anh còn không muốn mua thì anh đúng là một con cá gỗ chính hiệu! [SLOW] Rẻ đến vậy mà anh còn không muốn mua thì anh đúng là một con cá gỗ chính hiệu!
John: "It's dirt cheap and if you still don't want to pay for it then you are crazily stingy!"
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Rẻ đến vậy mà anh còn không muốn mua thì anh đúng là một con cá gỗ chính hiệu!
John: Okay, what's the last expression?
Nguyet: khoai
John: literally meaning "potato." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "difficult."
Nguyet: [SLOW] khoai [NORMAL] khoai
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Nguyet: khoai
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this slang expression when you want to describe something as very difficult to do. Though it's a noun, it's used as an adjective.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Bài toán này khoai quá, tôi đã cố giải cả tối nay mà không xong. [SLOW] Bài toán này khoai quá, tôi đã cố giải cả tối nay mà không xong.
John: "This math is so difficult, I have tried to solve it all night and I still haven't been successful."
Nguyet: [NORMAL] Bài toán này khoai quá, tôi đã cố giải cả tối nay mà không xong.
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 describe a million of something with the word "bottle" in Vietnamese, you say:
[pause - 5 sec.]
Nguyet: chai
John: "million"
John: Your friend fell in love very passionately, just like falling into a...
[pause - 5 sec.]
Nguyet: lưới tình
John: "love net"
John: This physics problem is as hard as a potato!
[pause - 5 sec.]
Nguyet: khoai
John: "difficult"
John: He never tips for any good service.
[pause - 5 sec.]
Nguyet: cá gỗ
John: "stingy, penny-pinching"

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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