dở hơi

[zə˨˩ hɐi˧˥]mental, teasing, mild

What does dở hơi mean? dở hơi is a Vietnamese mild that translates to “crazy / nuts / bonkers” in English.

crazy wind / drafty

01

"crazy / nuts / bonkers"

Playful way to call someone crazy. Can be teasing rather than insulting.

Mày dở hơi à? (Are you crazy? / You're nuts!)

Context

  • Casual conversations with friends
  • Informal settings where profanity is accepted

Avoid

  • Professional or formal settings
  • Job interviews, meetings, or customer-facing situations

Cultural Context

Often used affectionately between friends. Less harsh than 'điên' (crazy).

More in Vietnamese 🇻🇳

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3 / 5homophobic, loanword

bê đê

[ɓe˧˧ ɗe˧˧]

fag / queer

Derived from the French word 'pédéraste'. It is the most ubiquitous term for a gay man or an effeminate male in Vietnam.

4 / 5action, sexual

xạo lồn

[sɐw˧˨ʔ lon˧˥]

bullshitting / talking out of your ass

Lying, boasting, or fabricating stories to look impressive. 'Xạo' means lying/fake; 'lồn' is added purely as an aggressive metric of magnitude.

5 / 5sexual, familial

địt mẹ mày

[ɗit˧˨ʔ me˧˨ʔ mɐi˨˩]

fuck your mother / motherfucker

The full Northern form with the target pronoun attached. If 'địt mẹ' is a grenade, adding 'mày' is pulling the pin and throwing it directly at someone's face. This isn't venting frustration — this is declaring war.

3 / 5internet, abbreviation

đm

[ɗe˧˥ em˧˥]

fuck / wtf

The texting abbreviation of 'đụ má.' Two letters that every Vietnamese person under 40 can decode instantly. It's become so ubiquitous in online spaces that it functions less as profanity and more as punctuation — surprise, frustration, emphasis, even approval.

5 / 5sexual, familial

địt mẹ

[ɗit˧˨ʔ me˧˨ʔ]

motherfucker / fuck your mother

Northern Vietnamese equivalent of 'đụ má.' Uses formal 'mẹ' instead of casual 'má,' making it more severe. The gravest insult in Vietnamese culture.

5 / 5anatomical, sexual

mặt lồn

[mat˧˨ʔ lon˧˥]

cunt-face / fuckface

Your face looks like female genitalia. It's as crude and direct as it sounds — a pure shock-value insult that combines the face (your public identity) with the most taboo body part. There's no subtlety here, just maximum offense per syllable.

2 / 5mental, insult

đồ điên

[ɗo˨˩ ɗiən˧˥]

you maniac / you psycho

Calls someone a crazy thing — not a crazy person, a crazy thing. The 'đồ' classifier does its usual work of stripping humanity. 'Điên' alone means crazy; prefixing it with 'đồ' makes it a label, a permanent diagnosis rather than a passing observation.

2 / 5insult, moral

đồ mặt dày

[ɗo˨˩ mat˧˨ʔ zɐi˨˩]

shameless person / thick-skinned bastard

Your face is so thick that nothing — no embarrassment, no social pressure, no shame — can penetrate it. In a culture where 'mặt' (face) is everything, having a thick one means you've abandoned all social contracts.