giặc

Vietnamese

Etymology

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 賊 (SV: tặc). The figurative sense derives from the sheer catchiness of the phrase "giặc đói, giặc dốt, giặc ngoại xâm" devised by Hồ Chí Minh, who used this word to describe the famine and illiteracy problems that Vietnam faced apart from actual giặc (“invaders”).

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zak̚˧˨ʔ]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [jak̚˨˩ʔ]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [jak̚˨˩˨]

Noun

giặc

(collective) human invaders
giặc ngoại xâm
foreign invaders
(figuratively, historical) one of the two problems (illiteracy and famine) that Vietnam faced during war times, apart from giặc ngoại xâm (“foreign invaders”)
giặc dốt
illiteracy

giặc đói
famine

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