giang hồ

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 江湖 (“rivers and lakes”), from Chinese 江湖 (jiānghú). In older texts, mostly used to describe the lives of people who didn't or couldn't settle for a home, but wandered around the country. The "outlaw" sense is popularized by Chinese wuxia soap operas, which frequently emphasize the lawlessness and cruelty of the martial arts world in feudal-China settings.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zaːŋ˧˧ ho˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [jaːŋ˧˧ how˦˩]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [jaːŋ˧˧ how˨˩]

Adjective

giang hồ

1. lawless, especially thuggish, hoodlumish or gangsterish

   giới giang hồ ― the underworld

   • 2024 January 10, Nguyễn Vy, “Thấy nước mắt mẹ, gã giang hồ gác kiếm sau 30 năm "tắm máu" [Watching His Mother Cry, a Former Hoodlum Washed His Hands of 30 Bloody Years]”, in Dân trí [The People's Knowledge]:

     Nhưng mọi nỗ lực của người mẹ dường như bằng không. "Thời đó, tôi không quan tâm đến mẹ. Trở về nhà, tôi luôn khoái chí kể về những "chiến tích" giang hồ của mình. Mẹ tôi cầu xin, khóc lóc đã quá nhiều đến mức không nói được gì nữa", Tú kể.

     But his mother's efforts came to nought. "Back then, I didn't care about my mother's feelings. When I got home, I would gloat over my thuggish achievements. My mother begged and cried until she couldn't utter a word," Tú reminisced.

See also

• lưu manh
• đầu gấu
• xã hội đen