(literally) something must have gone wrong when the Midwife got this child out of their mother
(figuratively) the child in question is too boyish for a girl or too girlish for a boy

bà ba

bà ba
noun

(áo ~) áo bà ba (a traditional southern Vietnamese garment)

bà chúa

bà chúa
noun

a woman who lives a life of wealth and luxury.
lady (bà: female, chúa: lord), a title given to wives of Trịnh Lords, whom ruled Northern Vietnam for 217 years (1570–1787)

bà chằn

bà chằn
noun

a type of slug
(colloquial, Southern Vietnam, can be offensive) a ferocious woman

bà chủ

bà chủ
noun

landlady; proprietress

bà con

bà con
noun

(collective) relatives
(collective, familiar) one's rural townspeople

pron

(familiar) y'all, my rural townspeople

bà cô

bà cô
noun

spinster
dead nubile girl
(colloquial) termagant; scold

bà già

bà già
noun

(informal or derogatory) old woman; old lady
(informal or derogatory) old lady (mother)

bà hoàng

bà hoàng
noun

queen

bà mụ

bà mụ
noun

midwife

bà ngoại

bà ngoại
noun

maternal grandmother

bà nội

bà nội
noun

paternal grandmother

bà phước

bà phước
noun

bà tám

bà tám
noun

a very talkative woman; chatterbox; gossip

bà xã

bà xã
noun

(colloquial, sometimes humorous) An intimate form of address for one's wife.

bà đỡ

bà đỡ
noun

midwife

bà ấy

bà ấy
pron

she (woman of higher social status, e.g., older)

bài

bài
noun

card, playing card, card game
tag, tablet
lesson
exercise, paper, task, theme

classifier

used for compositions like songs, drawings, poems, essays, etc.

bài Ma-ghích

bài Ma-ghích
name

(card games, colloquial) Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game

bài chòi

bài chòi
noun

a performance art usually associated with Central Vietnam

bài giải

bài giải
noun

solution

bài giảng

bài giảng
noun

lecture

bài hát

bài hát
noun

song

bài học

bài học
noun

lesson (for a student)
(figuratively) lesson

bài làm

bài làm
noun

a task; an exercise; writing work

bài ngoại

bài ngoại
verb

to be xenophobic

bài thơ

bài thơ
noun

poem

bài tiết

bài tiết
noun

excretion (The process of removing or ejecting material that has no further utility)

verb

to excrete

bài trí

bài trí
verb

to put, to place in an order

bài trừ

bài trừ
verb

to abolish
to eradicate (an evil)

bài tập

bài tập
noun

an exercise

bài viết

bài viết
noun

(a newspaper) article

bài vở

bài vở
noun

class materials
newspaper copy

bài xích

bài xích
verb

to be critical of; to disapprove of
to criticize

bàn

bàn
noun

table; desk; board

classifier

Used for games.

verb

to discuss; to talk over

bàn bạc

bàn bạc
verb

to discuss; to exchange views (on)

bàn chà

bàn chà
noun

a nailbrush

bàn chân

bàn chân
noun

a foot (the weight-bearing end of a limb)

bàn chải

bàn chải
noun

a handheld brush for cleaning, especially a toothbrush

bàn chải đánh răng

bàn chải đánh răng
noun

toothbrush

bàn cãi

bàn cãi
verb

to debate; to argue

bàn ghế

bàn ghế
noun

furniture

bàn giao

bàn giao
verb

to hand over; to transfer

bàn giấy

bàn giấy
noun

writing desk; office desk

adj

clerical; secretarial
white-collar

bàn luận

bàn luận
verb

to discuss; to talk

bàn là

bàn là
noun

clothes iron

bàn mổ

bàn mổ
noun

operating table

bàn phím

bàn phím
noun

keyboard

bàn tay

bàn tay
noun

hand
(figuratively) hand; participation; involvement

bàn thạch

bàn thạch
noun

(literary, usually used figuratively) rock

bàn thắng

bàn thắng
noun

(sports, chiefly soccer) points won; goals gained; an additional score

bàn thờ

bàn thờ
noun

altar (table)

bàn toạ

bàn toạ
noun

seat
(by extension, euphemistic) the buttocks

bàn tán

bàn tán
verb

to discuss (in a widespread and inconclusive way); to debate; to chatter; to jabber

bàn tính

bàn tính
noun

abacus

bàn ủi

bàn ủi
noun

clothes iron

bàng

bàng
noun

the Malabar almond (Terminalia catappa)
grey sedge (Lepironia articulata)

bàng bạc

bàng bạc
adj

(rare, literary) overflowing

bàng hoàng

bàng hoàng
adj

stunned; stupefied; dumbfounded

bàng quan

bàng quan
adj

(formal) indifferent to something that is not to be taken lightly, such as a serious social problem, someone else's accident, etc.; apathetic

bàng quang

bàng quang
noun

(anatomy) urinary bladder

bàng thính

bàng thính
verb

(literary, rare) to attend an audience as an audit

bành trướng

bành trướng
verb

to expand; to spread

bành tô

bành tô
noun

(dated) jacket

bào

bào
verb

to plane

noun

a plane
Only used in áo bào.
(only in compounds) cover; sack; wrapping
(only in compounds) womb

bào chế

bào chế
verb

(pharmacy, only for medicine) to produce; to invent; to develop
(pharmacy, only for medicine) to prepare; to ready

bào chữa

bào chữa
verb

(law) to defend

bào mòn

bào mòn
verb

to whittle

bào ngư

bào ngư
noun

abalone; ormer; sea-ear

bào thai

bào thai
noun

fetus

bào tử

bào tử
noun

(biology) spore

bàu

bàu
noun

(Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) pond, pool

bày

bày
verb

to arrange; to dispose; to display

bày biện

bày biện
verb

to arrange
to show off; to flaunt

bày tỏ

bày tỏ
verb

to express; to make clear; to show; to display

bày vẽ

bày vẽ
verb

to devise (useless tasks)
to teach peers

bày đặt

bày đặt
verb

(chiefly Southern Vietnam, colloquial) to make things unnecessarily complicated

ca
noun

mug (cup)
mug (about 1/4 liter)
(literary, in compounds) a song
(medicine) case
shift (change of workers)
The name of the Latin-script letter K.

verb

(colloquial in Southern Vietnam, somewhat literary in other dialects) to sing
(colloquial, ironic) to praise
(colloquial) to scold

kiểm tra

kiểm tra
noun

(usually education) a test or quiz; compare thi (“exam”, finals or entrance exams)

verb

to check or examine; compare thanh tra (“to inspect”, of an inspector or inspecting agency)

luận

luận
noun

essay

lục bát

lục bát
noun

a traditional Vietnamese poetry with alternating lines of 6 and 8 syllables, whereby the last syllable of a 6-syllable line rhymes with the 6th syllable of the very next 8-syllable line, and the last syllable of an 8-syllable line rhymes with the last syllable of the very next 6-syllable line; the rhyming also has to conform to the matching of trắc or bằng tones

phi

phi
verb

(of a horse) to gallop
to flee; to travel very quickly
to lance (to throw in the manner of a lance)
to stir-fry (an onion, scallion, or clove of garlic) before preparing a dish

prefix

non-, in-

conj

if it isn't

noun

Various species of saltwater clam of the genus Sanguinolaria, such as Sanguinolaria diphos and Sanguinolaria planculata.
phi (Φ)
concubines, mistresses, ladies of a monarch.
wives, consorts of a junior monarch such as a prince.

romanization

Sino-Vietnamese reading of 妃
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 痱
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 不
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 霏
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 髬
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 腓
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 斐
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 丕
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 蜚
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 披
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 騑
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 鯡
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 扉
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 緋
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 飛
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 非
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 紕
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 菲
Sino-Vietnamese reading of 呸

sơ

sơ
adj

(when doing something) negligent; incomplete; cursory
(rare) distant; foreign
(now chiefly in compounds) in the initial stage; primary; elementary

sơ khai

sơ khai
adj

initial; primordial; original; early

noun

(figuratively) a stub (as an early, incomplete composition)

tam cúc

tam cúc
noun

A multi-trick card game popular in northern Vietnam, played mostly by women for entertainment and at ceremonies and festivals.

tay trắng

tay trắng
noun

(chiefly in the dual) the state of having no money

thi

thi
noun

(literary) poetry

verb

to compete
to take an examination

thơ con cóc

thơ con cóc
noun

jocular poetry; a jocular poem

thơ thất ngôn tứ tuyệt

thơ thất ngôn tứ tuyệt
noun

a Chinese-style quatrain with 7 syllables for each line, whereby, generally, the last syllables of all but the 3rd line rhyme; poems in Vietnamese also have to have all of their syllables follow some specific patterns of trắc and bằng tones

thắng

thắng
noun