Các thành ngữ tiếng Anh tương đương trong thành ngữ Việt Nam
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Appendix A: Idioms about Human Feelings
I/ Love:
English idioms Meanings Vietnamese idioms
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Used to say that when you are away
from sb you love, you love them more
Giận thì mắng, lặng thì thương
A woman/ man after one’s own heart
A person you particularly like because
he has the same interests as you
Người đàn ông / phụ nữ của lòng tôi
Be close / near / dear to sb's heart
Be a person or thing that sb is very fond
of
Say như điếu đổ / chết mê chết mệt /
mê tít thò lò
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Come straight from the heart
From the bottom of my heart
Truly love sb Từ tận đáy lòng
Have eyes only for sb / Only have

As happy as Larry
As happy as the day is long
As jolly as a shoe brush
As merry as a cricket
As please as Punch
Very happy Vui như sáo
Extremely happy
Vui như hội
Vui như tết
Be a good sport
Be generous, cheerful and pleasant,
especially in a difficult situation
Lạc quan yêu đời
Be a sight for sore eyes
Be a person or thing that you are
happy to see
Đẹp lóa mắt
Be all smiles Be very happy and smiling, especially Nở gan nở ruột
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after feeling sad or worried about sth
Be grateful / thankful for small
mercies
Be happy that a bad situation is not
even worse
Như chết đi sống lại
Be in / Go into raptures about / over
sb / sth
Be extremely enthusiastic about sb/

Happy when you no longer have to
deal with sb / sth because they are
annoying or unpleasant
Như trút được gánh nặng
Grin like a Cheshire cat
Smile widely in a foolish or self-
satisfied way
Cười nhăn nhở
Have a time of your life
Have a whale of time
Enjoy yourself, be very happy or
excited
Vui lòng hả dạ
Have stars in your eyes
Happy and excited about future
because you believe that you will be
successful and famous
Mặt tươi như hoa
In the clover
Live happily and comfortably in
prosperity and success
Sướng như tiên
In transports of joy / delight Feeling very great joy Mở cờ trong bụng
Keep sb amused
Give sb interesting things to do or
entertain them so that they do not
become bored
Mua vui cho thiên hạ
Kick up your heels Be relaxed and enjoy yourself
Laugh like drain Laugh very loudly Cười như sấm / cười như phá

2/ Make people excited or
enthusiastic about sth
With open arms Extremely happy to see sb Tay bắt mặt mừng
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Your heart leaps
Have a sudden feeling of happiness or
excitement
Khấp khởi mừng thầm
iii/ sadness:
English idioms Meanings Vietnamese idioms
As cheerless as the grave
As sad as night
Very sad
Buồn như đưa đám / buồn như chấu cắn/
buồn như cha chết
Be drown in tears Giọt châu lã chã / nước mắt tuôn trào
Be in the blue Be depressed Buồn xo buồn rụi
Break one's heart Make sb feel extremely unhappy Tan vỡ trái tim
Crocodile tears (insincere sadness) An insincere show of sadness Nước mắt cá sấu
Cry your eyes out Cry a lot and for a long time
Khóc hết nước mắt / khóc như ri / khóc
như con gái về nhà chồng
Cut to the quick Deeply hurt in one’s feelings Ruột đau như cắt
Down in the dumps Feeling unhappy or without hope
Mặt mày ủ ê / ỉu xìu như bánh đa nhúng
nước / ỉu xìu như bánh bao chiều
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English idioms Meanings Vietnamese idioms
Avoid sb / sth like the plague
Keep somebody at arm's length
Avoid sb / sth completely Tránh như tránh hủi
Can't stand the sight / sound of sb / sth Dislike or hate to (see / hear) sb / sth Ghét cay ghét đắng
Hate sb like poison Extremely hate sb Ghét ngon ghét ngọt
Hate sb's guts
Hate the sight of sb / sth
Dislike sb very much
Ghét nhau như chó với mèo / như mặt
trăng với mặt trời / như nước với lửa
Have no time for sb / sth Dislike and have no respect for sb /sth Căm thù tới tận xương tủy
Have no use for sb / sth Strongly dislike sb /sth Không đội trời chung
There’s no love lost between A and B Two people dislike each other Ghét đào đất đổ đi
V/ anger:
English idioms Meanings Vietnamese idioms
A black look An angry or disapproving expression on Ánh mắt hình viên đạn
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sb’s face
Add fuel to the fire / flames
Do or say sth which makes sb even more
angry
Đổ thêm dầu vào lửa
As angry as a wasp
As red as a beetroot
As red as a turkey - cock

Become red in the face Đỏ mặt tía tai
Bite a person's head off
Jump down one's throat
Speak to sb angrily without a good
reason
Nổi trận lôi đình
Blow your top / Blow your stack
Fly into a rage / temper
Fly into a tantrum
Fly off handle
Have / throw a tantrum / See red
Suddenly become angry
Nổi máu xung thiên / nổi cơn tam bành/
giận đỏ mặt / đỏ mặt tía tai
Cross as two sticks Annoyed, irritated, petulant Mặt nặng mày chì
Cut sb dead
Pretend not to see sb or not to greet sb to
show your anger
Mặt lạnh như tiền
Do a slow burn Slowly get angry Giận sôi máu lên
Do sb 's head in
Make sb feel confused, upset, and / or
annoyed
Chọc ổ kiến lửa
Drive sb up the wall Make sb very annoyed, drive sb crazy Tức nước vỡ bờ
Feel out of sorts Feel ill or bad tempered Nhăn như mặt hổ phù
Flip your lid Become very angry Tức lộn ruột
Foam at the mouth Giận sùi bọt mép
For crying out loud
Hell's teeth

you want
Nghiến răng nghiến lợi / nghiến răng
trèo trẹo / nhe nanh giơ vuốt
Go ape Become extremely angry or excited Tức như bò đá
Go ballistic
Go bananas / Have a pink / blue fit
Become very angry Nổi máu xung thiên
Go off deep end
Get into a state of violent emotion of
anger
Giãy nảy như đỉa phải vôi
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Have / throw a fit Become very excited or angry Điên tiết lên
Have a cow Suddenly become very excited or angry Giận điên người
Have a short temper Nóng tai nóng mặt
Have sb' s guts for garters
Be very angry with sb and punish them
severely for sth they have done
Tức trào máu họng
Here we go again
Used for showing you are angry or
annoyed that sth is starting to happen
again
Biết rồi khổ lắm nói mãi
His bark is worse than his bite
Sb is not really as angry or unkind as
they seem
His blood is up

Sick to your stomach Disgusted or angry Tức như đấm bò bông
Smooth somebody's ruffled feathers Make sb feel less angry or offended Nuốt giận làm lành
Spit blood venom
Show that you are very angry, speak in
an angry way
Gắt như mắm tôm
Take sth amiss
Feel offended about sth, perhaps
because you understand in a wrong way
Take sth to heart Be very offended by sb’s criticism Tức ói máu
Tear one's hair Be very worried or angry Vò đầu bứt tai
The feathers / fur / sparks will fly There will be anger, annoyance
To hell with sb / sth
Used to express anger or dislike and to
say that you no longer care about sb/ sth
Biến đi cho khuất mắt!
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Turn in his / her grave Likely to be shock or angry
Up in arms about / over sth Very angry and protesting very strongly
Vi/ embarrassment:
English idioms Meanings Vietnamese idioms
A burning shame
A crying shame
Thẹn đỏ mặt
As shy as a fawn
As shy as a school girl
E lệ thẹn thùng / e thẹn như con gái mới
về nhà chồng

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them / it
Be dead scared of sth Sợ chết khiếp
Be frightened / nervous / scared of
your own shadow
Be very easily frightened, be very
nervous
Sợ hùm sợ cả cứt hùm
Be in a stew Be / become very nervous about sth Mất ăn mất ngủ
Be on hot bricks
Like a cat on hot bricks
On pins and needles
Tense, excited, nervous or restless Như ngồi trên đống lửa
Be scared / bored witless Be extremely frightened or bored Kinh hồn bạt vía
Blue in the face Sợ xanh mặt / mặt vàng như nghệ
Drive sb out of their mind / wits
Make sb crazy or very nervous or
worried
Giậm giật như chó tháng bảy
Fear has big eyes Thần hồn nát thần tính
Fear has quick ear
Chim phải sợ cành cây cong / phải
một cái, rái đến già
Frighten / Scare the life out of sb Frighten sb very much Sợ khiếp đảm
Get / Have the jitters
Feel anxious and nervous, especially
before an important event or before
having to do sth difficult

word to assert himself on any point
however small and against anybody
however unformidable
Nhát như thỏ đế
Ill at ease Nervous, especially in a social situation Sợ phát ốm
In a (flat) spin Very confused, worried or excited Rối như canh hẹ
In a blue funk Be depressed Mặt xanh như đít nhái
In a lather In a nervous, angry or excited state Cuống lên như chuột phải khói
Jump out of your skin Make a quick, sudden movement
because sth has suddenly frightened
Nhảy dựng lên / giật bắn người / như
giẫm phải lửa
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you
Lead sb a merry dance Cause sb a lot of trouble or worry Lo cuống cà kê
Make one's flesh creep
Make sb' s skin crawl
Make you feel afraid or full of disgust
Hoảng kinh hồn vía / hồn siêu phách
lạc
On edge Nervous, worried or anxious Như phỏng nước sôi
Pale as death itself Mặt xanh như tàu lá
Scare, annoy the hell out of sth Scare, annoy sb very much Kinh tâm táng đởm
Scared / Frighten sb out of his wits Frighten sb very much Dọa cho hồn vía lên mây
Shake in one's boots Afraid of sth Sợ nổi gai ốc / nổi da gà
Stand in terror of sth
Stop sb in their tracks
Suddenly make sb stop by frightening

ghen ăn ghét uống
Keep up with the Joneses
Try to have all the possession and
social achievements that your
neighbors or other people around you
have, especially by buying what they
buy
Không chòu thua chò kém em
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Pale with envy
Sick with jealousy
Trâu buộc ghét trâu ăn / vô duyên ghét kẻ
có duyên / không tiền ghét kẻ có tiền cầm
tay
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