bắt cóc

Vietnamese

Etymology

The Đại Nam quấc âm tự vị (1895) explains this as a truncation of the phrase bắt cóc bỏ dĩa (“pointless, futile”, literally “to get a toad and put it on a plate”), since a toad (captive) being put on a plate (useless confinement) can easily jump away; if so, the second element is indeed cóc (“toad”). Still, this might just be a folk etymology.

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓat̚˧˦ kawk͡p̚˧˦]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓak̚˦˧˥ kawk͡p̚˦˧˥]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɓak̚˦˥ kawk͡p̚˦˥]

Verb

bắt cóc

to kidnap; to abduct

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