nợ như chúa Chổm

Vietnamese

Etymology

Based on a folkloric story about the emperor Lê Trang Tông (1515–1548), whose nickname was Chổm.

Compare this line from Vị thành giai cú tạp biên (渭城佳句摺編, 12a; late 19th century) by Trần Tế Xương (cited in Nguyễn Quang Hồng, 2014):

  • 功𡢻捌悲形主𨅺 ― Công nợ bét be hình chúa Chổm. ― The debt situation is as bad as [the time under] Lord Chổm.

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [nəː˧˨ʔ ɲɨ˧˧ t͡ɕuə˧˦ t͡ɕom˧˩]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [nəː˨˩ʔ ɲɨ˧˧ t͡ɕuə˨˩˦ t͡ɕom˧˨]
  • (Saigon) IPA(key): [nəː˨˩˨ ɲɨ˧˧ cuə˦˥ com˨˩˦]

Verb

nợ như chúa Chổm

  1. (idiomatic) to be heavily indebted
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