họa mi

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 畫眉.

The second element means eyebrow, but often realized by folk etymology as meaning eyelashes (see Vietnamese mi).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [hwaː˧˨ʔ mi˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [hwaː˨˩ʔ mɪj˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [waː˨˩˨ mɪj˧˧]

Noun

họa mi

1. the Garrulax canorus, the hwamei, a bird native to southeastern and central China as well as northern Laos and Vietnam
2. (colloquial, slang) the penis, male genitalia

Usage notes

It is sometimes used to translate (e.g. by Nguyễn & Vũ, 1986) English nightingale (& cognates like Danish nattergal), whose correct translation is dạ oanh. As a result, a few biligual dictionaries accept the usage of họa mi to translate English nightingale.