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quân vô hí ngôn

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Vietnamese

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Sino-Vietnamese word from (monarch), (not) and 戲言 (to joke, to jest, to say something playfully and not in earnest).

Based on a quote in Lüshi Chunqiu (translation adapted from Knoblock & Riegel 2001):

Pronunciation

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  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [kwən˧˧ vo˧˧ hi˧˦ ŋon˧˧]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [kwəŋ˧˧ vow˧˧ hɪj˨˩˦ ŋoŋ˧˧]
  • (Saigon) IPA(key): [wəŋ˧˧ vow˧˧ hɪj˦˥ ŋoŋ˧˧] ~ [wəŋ˧˧ jow˧˧ hɪj˦˥ ŋoŋ˧˧]

Idiom

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quân ngôn

  1. A monarch should not say anything in jest
  2. (by extension) A person in power should not say anything in jest and not in earnest
    • 2018, Linh Oanh, "Nước cờ nguy hiểm (The Dangerous Chess Move)", Báo Quân đội nhân dân (People's Army Newspaper)
      Dù vậy, "quân vô hí ngôn", dẫu nhiều khả năng chỉ là một đòn gió, thì "nước cờ" của Tổng thống D. Trump cũng tiềm ẩn nhiều rủi ro.
      Even so, "a monarch / a person in power should not say anything in jest", though in most likelihoods it has been just a feint attack, President D. Trump's "chess move" also has many potential risks.