trúng tủ

Vietnamese

Etymology

trúng (“to hit; to be right on”) +‎ tủ (“cabinet; highly useful skill or knowledge; high-yield topic”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕʊwŋ͡m˧˦ tu˧˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʈʊwŋ͡m˦˧˥ tʊw˧˨]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʈʊwŋ͡m˦˥ tʊw˨˩˦]

Verb

trúng tủ

1. (colloquial, of the examinee) to be fortunate and be tested on the only thing(s) one has studied
2. (rare) to be right on by saying things that someone else had tried to keep to themselves and did not want others to know