Tags: Folk Speech, Dites, Folk Sayings, Vietnamese
Text
“Biết chết liền”
“If I knew, I’d die”
Informant Info
Race/Ethnicity: Vietnamese
Age: 56
Occupation: Business Owner
Residence: Northwest Arkansas, USA
Date of Performance: February 2024
Primary Language:Vietnamese
Other Language(s): English
Relationship: Stepfather
Context
ND, the informant, was born in the South of Vietnam. He often uses this phrase when talking to his other Vietnamese friends about a piece of gossip.
Analysis
“Biết chết liền” is another way of saying that “if I’d known, I would have died.” It is also a Vietnamese way of saying that you didn’t know about something. Vietnamese people have a very unique way of expressing themselves: their speech is typically lighthearted, dramatic, and wonderfully eccentric. Oftentimes when speaking amongst friends/ethnic familiars, they use dramatic and funny phrases to communicate.