bắt cóc

Vietnamese

Etymology

The Đại Nam quấc âm tự vị (1895) explains this as a truncation of the phrase bắt cóc bỏ dĩa (“pointless, futile”, literally “to get a toad and put it on a plate”), since a toad (captive) being put on a plate (useless confinement) can easily jump away; if so, the second element is indeed cóc (“toad”). Still, this might just be a folk etymology.

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ʔɓat̚˧˦ kawk͡p̚˧˦]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [ʔɓak̚˦˧˥ kawk͡p̚˦˧˥]
  • (Saigon) IPA(key): [ʔɓak̚˦˥ kawk͡p̚˦˥]

Verb

bắt cóc

  1. to kidnap; to abduct
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