đầu trâu mặt ngựa

Vietnamese

Etymology

Calque of Chinese 牛頭馬面／牛头马面 (Ngưu Đầu Mã Diện, literally “Bull-Head and Horse-Face”), equivalent to đầu (“head”) +‎ trâu (“water buffalo”) +‎ mặt (“face”) +‎ ngựa (“horse”). Compare Japanese 牛頭馬頭 (Gozu Mezu, Ngưu Đầu Mã Đầu, literally “Bull-Head and Horse-Head”).

Pronunciation
  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ʔɗəw˨˩ t͡ɕəw˧˧ mat̚˧˨ʔ ŋɨə˧˨ʔ]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [ʔɗəw˦˩ ʈəw˧˧ mak̚˨˩ʔ ŋɨə˨˩ʔ]
  • (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [ʔɗəw˨˩ ʈəw˧˧ mak̚˨˩˨ ŋɨə˨˩˨]

Noun

đầu trâu mặt ngựa

  1. (figurative) a thug (a criminal who treats others violently or roughly)
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