phanh thây

Vietnamese

Etymology

In usage, from Chinese 分屍／分尸 (phân thi), but with the substitution of phân (分) with the etymologically unrelated phanh through phono-semantic matching.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [fajŋ̟˧˧ tʰəj˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [fɛɲ˧˧ tʰəj˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [fan˧˧ tʰəj˧˧]

Verb

phanh thây

1. to tear a person to pieces

   Synonym: xé xác

   ngũ mã phanh thây ― dismemberment with five horses

   tứ mã phanh thây ― dismemberment with four horses

   Tao căm nó lắm ! Mỗi lần thấy mặt nó cười đểu tao chỉ muốn phanh thây/xé xác nó thôi !

   I really hate her! Every time I see her smirking at me I just want to tear her to pieces!