lo bò trắng răng
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Vietnamese[edit]
Etymology[edit]
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[edit]
- (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[edit]
- (idiomatic) to needlessly worry