con gái rượu

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• con gái riệu

Etymology

From con gái (“daughter”) +‎ rượu (“alcohol”), a simile allude to alcoholism especially common among Vietnamese men of older generation.

It is also possible that this is also a phono-semantic matching between rượu and diệu (“marvellous, wonderful”), the Sino-Vietnamese reading of 妙 (miào), as the two words are homophonous in many Northern dialects.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kɔn˧˧ ɣaːj˧˦ ziəw˧˨ʔ]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kɔŋ˧˧ ɣaːj˨˩˦ ʐɨəw˨˩ʔ]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [kɔŋ˧˧ ɣaːj˦˥ ɹɨəw˨˩˨]

Noun

con gái rượu

1. (chiefly Northern Vietnam, of a father, humorous or endearing) a beloved daughter

   Lại đây nào, con gái rượu của bố!

   Come here, my little baby girl!