bì bạch

== Vietnamese == === Etymology === Augmented from bạch (“with a thud”). Compare bì bịch, bì bõm, bì bọp. === Pronunciation === (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ʔɓi˨˩ ʔɓajk̟̚˧˨ʔ] (Huế) IPA(key): [ʔɓɪj˦˩ ʔɓat̚˨˩ʔ] (Saigon) IPA(key): [ʔɓɪj˨˩ ʔɓat̚˨˩˨] === Adjective === bì bạch (onomatopoeia) with a smacking or flapping sound ==== Usage notes ==== A pun associates this native word with the homophonic Sino-Vietnamese word of 皮白 (bì bạch, literally “skin + white”), leading to the expression: da trắng vỗ bì bạch (literally “white skin slapped like bì bạch [white-skin]”), often paired with similar-structured expressions such as: rừng sâu mưa lâm thâm (literally “deep forest rains like lâm thâm [deep-forest]”), trời xanh màu thanh thiên (literally “blue sky like thanh thiên [blue-sky]”) to form an antithetical couplet. Compare cô miên.