đàn gảy tai trâu

Vietnamese

Etymology

Probably a calque of Chinese 對牛彈琴 / 对牛弹琴 (đối ngưu đàn cầm); literally "playing a musical instrument for a water buffalo"

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ʔɗaːn˨˩ ɣaj˧˩ taːj˧˧ t͡ɕəw˧˧]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [ʔɗaːŋ˦˩ ɣaj˧˨ taːj˧˧ ʈəw˧˧]
  • (Saigon) IPA(key): [ʔɗaːŋ˨˩ ɣa(ː)j˨˩˦ taːj˧˧ ʈəw˧˧]

Phrase

đàn gảy tai trâu

  1. (idiomatic) talk to a brick wall (a situation where you say something to someone and they simply would not listen or pay attention)
    Synonym: nước đổ lá khoai
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.