lo bò trắng răng

Vietnamese

Etymology

Literally, "to worry that a cow's teeth are white".

Most Kinh people in the old days, regardless of status, dyed their teeth black. This idiom implies that a person feels uneasy that their cow's teeth are not dyed, although it is a livestock, not human.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [lɔ˧˧ ʔɓɔ˨˩ t͡ɕaŋ˧˦ zaŋ˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [lɔ˧˧ ʔɓɔ˦˩ ʈaŋ˦˧˥ ʐaŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [lɔ˧˧ ʔɓɔ˨˩ ʈaŋ˦˥ ɹaŋ˧˧]

Verb

lo bò trắng răng

1. (idiomatic) to needlessly worry