vịt giời

Vietnamese

Etymology

vịt (“duck”) +‎ giời (“sky; celestial; heavenly”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [vit̚˧˨ʔ zəːj˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [vit̚˨˩ʔ jəːj˦˩]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [vɨt̚˨˩˨ jəːj˨˩] ~ [jɨt̚˨˩˨ jəːj˨˩]

Noun

(classifier con) vịt giời

1. Northern Vietnam form of vịt trời (“wigeon”)
2. (Northern Vietnam, humorous or disapproving) a daughter, whom a family may be disappointed to have because of patriarchy (that favors boys to take care of their immediate families and extended families, and to maintain their family names), or who may possess disapproved stereotypically feminine qualities such as talkativeness, whining and nagging that's likened to a duck's or goose's quacking

   Nhà tôi có năm con vịt giời.

   Oh boy, I've got five little princesses.