Đi chơi
Pronunciation: /ɗi˧ t͡ɕəːj˧/
Roughly: “dee choy”
English has a few words that do suspicious amounts of work.
“Right” can mean correct, the opposite of left, immediately, I understand, I don’t believe you, or, when delivered as a long “riiiiight”, everything you just said is nonsense, but I have decided not to argue about it.
Vietnamese has something even better.
Đi chơi.
Learn these two little words, and an alarming percentage of your recreational life in Vietnam is suddenly covered.
Literally, đi means to go, while chơi means to play. So a beginner might reasonably translate đi chơi as “go play”.
This is correct.
It is also spectacularly inadequate.
Two Words, Many Possibilities
In actual Vietnamese, đi chơi is an elastic expression for leaving wherever you currently are and doing something enjoyable somewhere else.
Depending on context, it can mean:
- go out
- go hang out
- go have fun
- go somewhere for fun
- go out with friends
- go for a day out
- go on an outing
- go sightseeing
- go on a little trip
- go away for the weekend
- go visit somewhere
- go partying
- go for drinks
- go on a date
- go out socially
- and, when said to a child, simply go play
English wants details. Vietnamese is perfectly happy to let the evening reveal itself.
Ask someone what they are doing tonight and đi chơi may be all the answer you get.
Where?
Somewhere.
Doing what?
Something enjoyable.
With whom?
People, presumably.
This is not a phrase. It is a recreational blank cheque.
“Đi Chơi Không?”
It becomes particularly useful as an invitation.
Đi chơi không?
Literally, this is something like “Go have fun, or not?” In natural English, however, it could be:
“Wanna go out?”
“Want to hang out?”
“Fancy going somewhere?”
“Want to grab a drink?”
The actual activity is often supplied by context.
If it is 9 a.m. and somebody is holding a motorcycle helmet, đi chơi might mean going for coffee or taking a ride somewhere.
If it is Saturday afternoon, it might mean the mall, a park, a café or a trip across town.
If it is 9 p.m. and your friend says “Đi chơiiii!” with sufficient enthusiasm, you probably aren’t being invited to the library.
Vietnamese does have the much more specific đi nhậu, meaning to go drinking, usually socially and often with food. But đi chơi keeps things delightfully noncommittal. Drinks may happen. Karaoke may happen. Food will almost certainly happen. You may return home at eleven. You may discover at 1 a.m. that there is apparently another place everyone needs to go.
The phrase has made no promises.
It Doesn’t Even Require Going Far
The interesting part is that đi chơi describes the purpose of going somewhere more than the destination.
Compare đi làm: go to work.
Or đi học: go to school or go study.
Then there is đi chơi: go and do the opposite of those things.
That makes it wonderfully Vietnamese in everyday use. A trip doesn’t always need an itinerary, an objective or even much advance notice. Sometimes someone messages you, someone else produces a motorbike, and twenty minutes later you are sitting on a tiny plastic chair eating something you had no intention of eating.
What are you doing?
Đi chơi.
Where are you going?
Đi chơi.
Why are you leaving the house?
Đi chơi.
For foreigners learning Vietnamese, there are more important phrases. There are phrases for ordering food, asking directions, paying bills and explaining that you don’t understand what anyone is saying.
But there may be none that offers a better return on two syllables.
So the next time somebody looks at you, gestures vaguely toward the door and asks “Đi chơi không?”, you already know enough Vietnamese.
The only remaining question is where you are going.
