Vietnamese idioms and words that are often said wrongly 1. “ƯỚT NHƯ CHUỘT LỘT” (Wet as a shredding rat) should be "ƯỚT NHƯ CHUỘT LỘI” (Wet as a paddling rat) We often use the idiom “ƯỚT NHƯ CHUỘT LỘT” (“wet as a shredding rat”) to refer to the condition of being soaking wet in a thunderstorm, but have you ever stopped to wonder what the hell a “chuột lột” is? “Lột” translates to “shred”, or “peel a layer off forcefully”, but that can’t be applied here as rats don’t shred. That’s because the correct word should be “lội” (paddle), not “lột”. “Wet as a paddling rat” makes much more sense if you imagine how a rat might swim. Ví dụ: Hôm nay Hà Nội mưa to quá, Khi lái xe máy tới công ty, em ướt như chuột lột (today Hanoi has a big rain, so I am 'ướt như chuột lột' on the way to the company) :(