lo bò trắng răng

Vietnamese

Etymology

Literally, "to worry that a cow's teeth are white".

Most Kinh people in the old days, regardless of status, dyed their teeth black. This idiom implies that a person feels uneasy that their cow's teeth are not dyed, although it is a livestock, not human.

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [lɔ˧˧ ʔɓɔ˨˩ t͡ɕaŋ˧˦ zaŋ˧˧]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [lɔ˧˧ ʔɓɔ˦˩ ʈaŋ˦˧˥ ʐaŋ˧˧]
  • (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [lɔ˧˧ ʔɓɔ˨˩ ʈaŋ˦˥ ɹaŋ˧˧]

Verb

lo trắng răng

  1. (idiomatic) to needlessly worry
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