làm dâu trăm họ
Vietnamese
Etymology
The notion of "a hundred families" is likely from Chinese 百姓 (bá tánh). Compare the words for "hundred" in expressions such as bách thú (“all animals”, literally “a hundred beasts”), Bách Việt (“the Yue tribes”, literally “a hundred Yue”), trăm trận trăm thắng/bách chiến bách thắng (“matchless; unrivaled”, literally “a hundred battles, a hundred victories”).
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [laːm˨˩ zəw˧˧ t͡ɕam˧˧ hɔ˧˨ʔ]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [laːm˦˩ jəw˧˧ ʈam˧˧ hɔ˨˩ʔ]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [laːm˨˩ jəw˧˧ ʈam˧˧ hɔ˨˩˨]
Verb
làm dâu trăm họ
- (literally) to be the daughter-in-law of a hundred/many/all families
- (figuratively) to be duty-bound to please/appeal to/appease everyone
- Làm marketing là làm dâu trăm họ, em ạ.
- Working in marketing means having to please everyone, honey.