giặc

Vietnamese

Etymology

From Middle Vietnamese giạc. Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 賊 (SV: tặc). The figurative sense was coined by Hồ Chí Minh:

  • 1948, Hồ Chí Minh, “Lời kêu gọi thi đua ái quốc”, in báo Cứu quốc, volume 968:
    Mục đích Thi đua ái quốc là: Diệt giặc đói, Diệt giặc dốt, Diệt giặc ngoại xâm.
    The objectives of patriotic Emulation are: Destroying the enemy that is hunger, Destroying the enemy that is ignorance, Destroying foreign invaders.

Pronunciation

Noun

giặc

  1. (collective) enemy, invader, aggressor
    giặc ngoại xâm ― foreign invaders
    giặc đến nhà, đàn bà cũng đánh
    when invaders come, even women fight
  2. (figurative) widespread issue that ravages the country
    giặc dốt ― illiteracy
    giặc đói ― famine
    giặc dịch ― pandemic
    • 2017, “Học Bác diệt "giặc đói"”, in Tuổi trẻ Phú Yên‎:
      Dẫu rằng "giặc đói" không còn, nhưng "giặc nghèo" vẫn đang hiện hữu.
      Although hunger is a thing of the past, poverty is still an issue.

Derived terms
Derived terms
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