lỗ tai cây

Vietnamese

Etymology

lỗ tai (“ear canal”) +‎ cây (“tree”), i.e. "tree ears", which of course do not exist, as opposed to normal functional human ears.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [lo˦ˀ˥ taːj˧˧ kəj˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [low˧˨ taːj˧˧ kəj˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [low˨˩˦ taːj˧˧ kəj˧˧]

Noun

lỗ tai cây

1. (Southern Vietnam, derogatory) ears merely for show

   Synonym: lỗ tai trâu

   Mày lỗ tai cây hay gì mà kêu ba bốn tiếng chưa trả lời?

   Are your ears decorations? How come you showed no acknowledgement although I've called for you several times already?