Reader Le Phi Long (Binh Phuoc) said: “I often read articles about language in the “Ca ke chuyen nghia” column of Thanh Hoa Newspaper, and I have learned many things. Many words, idioms, and proverbs, only when reading the “ca ke” article did I realize that I had misunderstood and used them incorrectly. Indeed, our Vietnamese language is extremely rich, living a lifetime may not be enough to fully understand and use our mother tongue correctly.
Recently I read in the newspaper and learned that at a conference, a Director of Department X said: “I think it is time for us to face this problem. Every year the city adds hundreds of thousands of vehicles, if we continue to let it go like this, we will never be able to handle traffic congestion.”
The director’s statement has met with opposition, because it is believed that the leader of a department using the word “free range” like that is offensive, uncultured, and insulting to the people. So, we would like to ask the column “Chatting about words” to let us know how the use of the word “free range” here is understood, is it acceptable?
Thank you very much".
Answer: We know the story related to the word "free range" that reader Le Phi Long mentioned, and some readers have also sent us similar questions.
The word "rông" or "rong", "nhông" (like running around the neighborhood) itself means being in a state of abandonment, not being bound, being able to go anywhere.
Almost all native Vietnamese speakers understand the word "tha rong" to mean letting someone go wherever they want, the opposite of "nhot" (keeping them in a cage, cage, not allowing them to move freely or be active).
All the Vietnamese dictionaries we have in our hands published from before 1945 until now (in both the South and the North), such as Vietnamese Dictionary (Hoi Khai Tri Tien Duc); Vietnamese Dictionary (Le Van Duc); New Vietnamese Dictionary (Thanh Nghi); Vietnamese Dictionary (Hoang Phe, editor-in-chief) all agree to explain “rông” and “thả rong” with the above meaning, and give examples: Dogs running free, buffaloes and cows running free, pigs running free/roaming; chickens running free,... In short, this is a word commonly used for animals that must be managed and kept in captivity but are set free to go wherever they want, and of course, that comes with their destruction and harassment.
However, in reality, the word “thả rong” is also used in quotation marks with a metaphorical meaning, referring to women not wearing bras. That is, the breasts of women are not bound or restrained by anything, but are left in a state of “freedom” and “freedom”. For example, “Thả rong” helps breasts become firmer? (Thanh Nien Newspaper), The trend of tightening the waist and “freeing” the breasts is on the rise again (Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper), “Freeing women” is not good for the breasts (Tien Phong Newspaper),... Even the article French women are protected in their right to go braless in public (Dan Tri Newspaper) does not include this word in the “blink”. Thus, the word “thả rong” here no longer means “letting go wherever you want”, but is used metaphorically, referring to freedom, unrestrainedness, and not being bound by anything in general.
Etymologically, "tha rong" is a Vietnamese word, in which both components have Chinese roots. With the word "tha" (another sound change is tha), which originates from the word "tha" 赦, meaning to forgive, to let go, to release, to give freedom. Regarding the relationship X↔TH (xả↔thả/tha), we can also see it in many other cases such as: xuy 吹↔thòi (playing the flute); xuy 炊↔thòi (blowing, cooking); xú 臭↔thội (stinking),...
As for the word rong/rong/nhong, it originates from a word with the character 容, with two pronunciations dung or dong, meaning to forgive, to tolerate, to allow existence without being punished. The relationship D↔R (dung/dong↔rong/nhong) can also be seen in many cases, such as di 夷↔rạ (barbarian); di 遺↔ trôi (to fall back); dông/dũng 蛹↔nhông (puppet, which is the sound change dung/dong↔rông/nhông; chay rong/chây rong),...
Back to the statement of the Director of Department X: "...Every year the city increases hundreds of thousands of vehicles, if we keep letting them run wild like this, we will never be able to handle traffic congestion."
Perhaps the word “let loose” was also used metaphorically by him. That is, the city did not have any policies to manage or restrict means of transport, but let them develop completely freely, as they wanted. Accordingly, based on the words of the quoted passage, in our opinion, what the director called “let loose” refers to the freedom to develop and increase “means of transport”, not to “let loose” the drivers of the vehicles.
However, as mentioned above, because “free range” is a word that is used to refer to the free, uncontrolled, and uncaged state of animals, when using it in a different sense, in writing, people often put it in quotation marks to remind readers of the metaphorical meaning of the word. While in a speech, it is very difficult to express rhetoric in speech. Therefore, in our opinion, the director of the department’s thoughtless use of the word “strong” caused a misunderstanding. Of course, this should also be seen as a lesson in caution in the use of words, especially in speeches at an official conference or forum.
Hoang Trinh Son (Contributor)
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/tha-rong-tu-chu-den-nghia-238945.htm
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