sở thú

Vietnamese

Etymology

sở (“department, place”) +‎ thú (“animal”), literally "department/place of animals".

Apparently originally the colloquial nickname for the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens, then became the term of "zoo" in general.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [səː˧˩ tʰu˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂəː˧˨ tʰʊw˨˩˦] ~ [səː˧˨ tʰʊw˨˩˦]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʂəː˨˩˦ tʰʊw˦˥] ~ [səː˨˩˦ tʰʊw˦˥]

Noun

sở thú • (所獸)

1. (Southern Vietnam, colloquial) zoo

   Synonyms: vườn bách thú, vườn thú, thảo cầm viên

   Ê bữa đi sở thú thấy mới rinh về con này nom hay hay nè.

   You know, the other day when I went to zoo, I saw that they have this new funny-looking animal.