tôm tít

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• (Southern Vietnam, unetymological spelling) tôm tích

Etymology

From tôm (“shrimp, pawn”) +‎ tít (“centipede”). Equivalent to tôm +‎ rết in Northern Vietnam, and tôm +‎ rít in Southern Vietnam.

As tít is a North Central form, the phrase "tôm tít" certainly originated from that region, then spread to other Central and Southern dialects.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [tom˧˧ tit̚˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [tom˧˧ tit̚˦˧˥]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [tom˧˧ tɨt̚˦˥]

Noun

(classifier con) tôm tít

1. (Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) mantis shrimp

   Synonym: bề bề