Where does “gắt như mắm tôm” come from?

gắt như mắm tôm (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese mắm tôm, from Vietnamese tôm, from Proto-Vietic soːm, from Proto-Mon-Khmer sum.

Ancestry of “gắt như mắm tôm”, step by step

gắt như mắm tôm traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Vietnamese mắm tôm

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesemắm tômshrimp paste
2Vietnamesetômshrimp, prawn
3Proto-Vieticsoːm—
4Proto-Mon-Khmersum—

via Vietnamese gắt

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesegắtto scold, to chide; strong and/or harsh;...
2Proto-Mon-Khmerkaacstrong, harsh
3Proto-Vietict-kɔːcto carve, to chisel, to sharpen

via Vietnamese như

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesenhưlike; as
2Middle Chinese如—
Every word from Proto-Mon-Khmer sum →Every word from Proto-Vietic soːm →Every word from Vietnamese tôm →