Journalist Nguyen Quang Tho launches a handbook of Vietnamese idioms and proverbs that are omitted from dictionaries.

The book "Vietnamese people speak Vietnamese" is like a handbook that refers to collections and research on Vietnamese idioms and proverbs that have been previously omitted from dictionaries, or have had their meanings re-explained.

Journalist Nguyen Quang Tho released a handbook on lost Vietnamese idioms, image 1 — The book launch of Vietnamese speaking Vietnamese by journalist Nguyen Quang Tho attracted readers. Photo: Thuy Trang

The book "Vietnamese speaking Vietnamese" is more than 380 pages thick, collecting more than 600 idioms and proverbs that are not in the dictionary, although they are very popular in life. The book consists of three main parts: Chapter 1: Seeing with the eyes and hearing with the ears; Chapter 2: Speaking near and far, just speaking the truth; Chapter 3: "Beating the drum through the door of the thunder house"; Additional notes: Looking at others makes me think of myself; Looking into the mouths of ordinary people; Final words of the book...

From the book, we will see idioms and proverbs that are still omitted, or the dictionary explanation that Mr. Nguyen Quang Tho thinks is not accurate such as: Bland as snail water in a duckweed pond; How can a gourd be boiled in pond water and still be sweet; Farming is expensive, building a house is expensive; More royalist than the king; Mouth like a duck's snout...

Or there are interesting words that we will encounter and hear somewhere in daily life such as: Let Mi tell you; Eat rice before the bell goes off; Run away; Pay money, get porridge; Daydream in broad daylight; Love on the shoulder; Go downhill without brakes; Eat dirt; Make money; Speak frankly...

Journalist Nguyen Quang Tho released a handbook on lost Vietnamese idioms, image 2 — The book is extremely useful for readers. Photo: Thuy Trang

He expressed: "This book does not help you answer all questions, even make you ask many questions. But we hope to bring readers a new approach to the problems that are still stuck, provide materials for many idioms and proverbs that are missing, discuss the explanations that we think are not standard and note some quite serious technical errors in the dictionary...".

Author Nguyen Quang Tho was born in 1949 in Nam Dinh and grew up in Hanoi. He was a soldier of Division 304 from 1968 to 1971.

He graduated from the German Philology Department at the Karl Marx University (now Leipzig University) in Leipzig (Germany) in 1979; and graduated with a master's degree in Comparative German Idioms (compared with Vietnamese) at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City (2005).

Nguyen Quang Tho worked at Thanh Nien Publishing House; Editor-in-Chief of Culture and Life magazine, Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House (1991-1992); Editor-in-Chief of Yeu Tre newspaper (1997 - 2010).

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