im
What does im mean? im is a Vietnamese moderate that translates to “shut up” in English.
Literal Translation
silent / shut up
Meaning & Usage
"shut up"
Command to be silent. Can be harsh or pleading depending on tone.
Examples in the Wild
Im đi! (Shut up!)
When to Use It
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
'Im mẹ mày đi' = 'Shut the fuck up.' Adding mother makes it extreme.
More in Vietnamese 🇻🇳
View all →bê đê
“fag / queer”
Derived from the French word 'pédéraste'. It is the most ubiquitous term for a gay man or an effeminate male in Vietnam.
xạo lồn
“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.
địt mẹ mày
“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.
đm
“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.
địt mẹ
“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.
mặt lồn
“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.
đồ điên
“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.
đồ mặt dày
“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.