đầu trâu mặt ngựa

Vietnamese

Etymology

Calque of Chinese 牛頭馬面 (Ngưu Đầu Mã Diện), equivalent to đầu (“head”) +‎ trâu (“water buffalo”) +‎ mặt (“face”) +‎ ngựa (“horse”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

đầu trâu mặt ngựa

(figuratively) a thug (a criminal who treats others violently or roughly)

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