10 Viral Vietnamese Slang Terms

Vietnamese is spoken by around 86 million people, and, like most tonal languages, it’s considered fairly difficult for English speakers to learn. Due to French colonization, however, it’s now written using an alphabet based on the Latin script used in English, making it slightly easier than its character-based counterparts. And, as with every language, Vietnamese is full of colloquialisms and fun slang. Here are 10 phrases to help you impress the locals on your next trip—provided that the locals are Gen Z. 

1. Cày
2. Đỉnh
3. Thả thính
4. Cột sống
5. Gấu
6. Gato
7. Bánh bèo 
8. Chằm Zn/chằm kẽm
9. Keo
10. Vãi 

Cày

Translated literally, cày is the Vietnamese noun or verb for “plough,” conjuring up images of long days of tough farm labor—and, given the traditional importance of agriculture in Vietnam’s economy, it’s no surprise that this term has now been adopted as slang to mean “working hard” or “grinding,” whether you’re doing so in your career, your studies, or when you’re binging a TV show or engaging in a gaming marathon.  

Đỉnh

Meaning “top” or “peak,” đỉnh is used to denote either a literal or metaphorical apex. It can also be used as a superlative to describe someone or something you consider outstanding. The famous Vietnamese artist NSND Tự Long recently coined the phrase đỉnh nóc kịch trần, a combination of four words that mean something like “peak” or “incredible” and can be translated as “beyond amazing” or “through the roof” in English. Perfect for those once-in-a-lifetime moments like traveling through Vietnam’s iconic Ha Giang Loop.

Thả thính

Thả means “to cast” or “to drop,” and thính refers to fishing bait. This phrase originally described literal fishing, but now it’s used to mean “flirting”—you’re reeling in people rather than fish. Often, the person doing the thả thính isn’t even really interested in a relationship; they just like the attention they receive.

Cột sống

A fun repurposing of the word for “spine,” cột sống refers in a light-hearted way to the troubles of modern life, and, more specifically, the back pain arising from things like too much screen time, binging Netflix while lying horizontal for hours, and sedentary office jobs. This term supposedly arose for the first time after the song “Cuộc sống em ổn không?” (“Is your life OK?”) went viral, and people substituted cuộc sống (“life”) for the similar-sounding cột sống (“spine”).

Gấu

Gấu is the Vietnamese word for “bear,” and younger Vietnamese speakers use it as a cutesy way to refer to a significant other. One explanation for the origin of this term is that it came from the stuffed bear that’s a common gift among couples.

Gato

Not to be confused with ga tô (the French-derived word for “cake”), gato (which is sometimes written in all capitals) is an acronym for ghen ăn tức ở, a phrase meaning “bursting with jealousy.” It’s often used in a cheeky, playful sense, more similar in tone to “so jel!” in English. 

Bánh bèo 

This term actually does originate from a word for food—bánh bèo is a popular street food snack made from steamed rice and tapioca flour topped with dried shrimp and mung bean paste. Since the texture of this rice cake is soft and slightly chewy, bánh bèo has now been adopted as slang to refer to someone who is delicate or super girly. It can be used to affectionately tease a friend, or it can be used more harshly, to criticise someone you perceive as weak and too dependent on others.

Chằm Zn/chằm kẽm

Vietnamese Gen Zers who are texting with their friends might use the text abbreviation chằm Zn. But when they’re saying it out loud, Zn isn’t pronounced like the letters z and n—it’s “kẽm,” the Vietnamese word for “zinc” (which makes sense: Zn is the chemical symbol for zinc). Whether written or spoken, the term is a play on trầm cảm, the Vietnamese word for “depression.” This slang term is typically used in a hyperbolic and light-hearted way, rather than to describe your actual mental health.

Keo

The word for “glue” in Vietnamese, keo is now used among Gen Zers to mean “slay.” As content creator Buu Dao explains, it’s likely to do with the fact that when someone or something is slaying super hard, your eyes are stuck to them like glue.

Vãi 

Vãi is perhaps the most versatile and popular word on this list. It can be used standalone for exclamations such as oh my god, oh no, wow, what the heck?, or are you kidding me?, but when it’s used for emphasis as part of a longer sentence, it means something closer to “hella,” “extremely,” or “damn.” As explained in one Instagram comment, it can also be the equivalent of af in English, where phiền vãi can be translated as “annoying af.” Be careful who you use it around, though, as it can still be considered vulgar by older generations.

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