thỏ đế

Vietnamese

Etymology

Unknown. Perhaps a jocular pseudo-Sino-Vietnamese coinage, from a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 兔帝 (“rabbit emperor”, SV: thố đế), from the notion of nhát như thỏ (“as cowardly as a rabbit”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [tʰɔ˧˩ ʔɗe˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [tʰɔ˧˨ ʔɗej˨˩˦]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [tʰɔ˨˩˦ ʔɗej˦˥]

Noun

thỏ đế

1. a scaredy-cat; a chicken