Journalist Nguyen Quang Tho launches a handbook on Vietnamese idioms and proverbs that are overlooked in dictionaries.

The book "Vietnamese People Speak Vietnamese" serves as a handbook, addressing collections and research on Vietnamese idioms and proverbs that have previously been overlooked or have had their definitions revised in dictionaries.

Journalist Nguyen Quang Tho launches a handbook on overlooked Vietnamese idioms and proverbs (Image 1). — The book launch of "Vietnamese People Speak Vietnamese" by journalist Nguyen Quang Tho attracted many readers. Photo: Thuy Trang

The book "Vietnamese People Speaking Vietnamese," over 380 pages long, collects more than 600 idioms and proverbs not found in dictionaries, despite being very common in daily life. The book is divided into three main parts: Chapter 1: What I See and Hear; Chapter 2: Speaking Indirectly, It's All About Telling the Truth; Chapter 3: "Drumming Through the Thunderous Door"; Additional Notes: Looking at Others and Reflecting on Ourselves; Observing the Mouths of Ordinary People; and the Epilogue...

From the book, we will find idioms and proverbs that have been overlooked, or dictionaries that Mr. Nguyen Quang Tho considers inaccurate, such as: As bland as snail water in a pond covered with duckweed; Even gourds cooked in pond water taste sweet; Farming is expensive, building a house is costly; More royalist than the king; A mouth like a duck's beak…

Or there are interesting words that we will encounter and hear somewhere in everyday life such as: Let me tell you; Eating before the bell rings; Running away without shoes; Money exchanged for porridge; Daydreaming; A love affair on the shoulder; Going downhill without brakes; Eating dirt; Making money from harvesting; To put it bluntly...

Journalist Nguyen Quang Tho launches a handbook on overlooked Vietnamese idioms and proverbs (Image 2). — This book is extremely useful for readers. Photo: Thuy Trang

He stated: "This book won't answer all your questions; in fact, it might even raise more. But we hope to offer readers a new approach to unresolved issues, provide linguistic data for many overlooked idioms and proverbs, discuss what we believe are inaccurate interpretations, and point out some rather 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 in the 304th Division from 1968 to 1971.

He graduated from the Department of German Philology at the Marxist University (now Leipzig University) in Leipzig, Germany, in 1979; and completed his master's degree with a thesis on comparative German idioms (compared with Vietnamese) at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City (2005).

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

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