ba ba ấp bóng

== Vietnamese == === Etymology === Literally, “soft-shell turtle broods its shadow”. This is referring to the fact that, turtles don't actually have to brood their eggs, but still linger near them for a while in order to keep guard or simply to bask under the sun. === Pronunciation === (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ʔɓaː˧˧ ʔɓaː˧˧ ʔəp̚˧˦ ʔɓawŋ͡m˧˦] (Huế) IPA(key): [ʔɓaː˧˧ ʔɓaː˧˧ ʔəp̚˦˧˥ ʔɓawŋ͡m˦˧˥] ~ [ʔɓaː˧˧ ʔɓaː˧˧ ʔəp̚˦˧˥ ʔɓɔŋ˦˧˥] (Saigon) IPA(key): [ʔɓaː˧˧ ʔɓaː˧˧ ʔəp̚˦˥ ʔɓawŋ͡m˦˥] === Phrase === ba ba ấp bóng (idiomatic) doing something that is futile and pointless === References ===