What does “Xe Om” mean in Vietnamese
Xe om means “hold on” to a driver as you ride on their motorbike. It is also the best way for tourists to get around cities and rural areas.
From Vietnamese pronunciation guides to our signature “Word of the Day” blog
Xe om means “hold on” to a driver as you ride on their motorbike. It is also the best way for tourists to get around cities and rural areas.
Người means “people”, but it also functions like the English suffix “-er” when attached to a verb (e.g., driver).
Fish is “cá” in Vietnamese (pronounced like ga). But “cá” also includes some marine mammals, such as the “Pig Fish”…
“Đụ má” is a serious expletive in Vietnamese, equivalent to “f you” in English. It is to “địt mẹ” as “f you” is to “f**k you”.
There are many Vietnamese words that signify “romantic partners”. Bạn gái is girl friend, while Bạn trai is boyfriend.
There are several interesting lessons in the “pho mát vs fromage” phenomenon that can help you learn the Vietnamese accent.
Introducing our new series of Vietnamese pronunciation guides with audio, covering: tones, consonants, digraphs, and vowels.
Quần is an example of overloading in Vietnamese: it means both “pants” as well as underwear, shorts, overalls and more
Nguyễn can be anglicized to “win/when”, with an upward-pitch at the end, but the correct pronunciation is nearly impossible for foreigners, unless you learn this trick.
Nước means anything liquidy, from drinking water (nước) to the sauce for bánh hỏi. As a traveller in Vietnam, you must know nước mía.
If you’ve explored rural areas in developing countries, you’ll know scary-dog attacks are common. “Bad dog!”
Nhà means “home” when said alone, but it is an overloaded term: it can also mean “building”, “hotel”, “bank”, and more
Bánh mì is pronounced like “bang me”. Bánh loosely means baked-good and mì means “wheat flour”…