Where does “tối tăm mặt mũi” come from?

tối tăm mặt mũi (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese mặt mũi, from Vietnamese mũi, from Proto-Vietic muːs, from Proto-Mon-Khmer muh — nose.

tối tăm mặt mũi (Vietnamese): being to heavily burdened by greater workload than one can withstand, nearly to the point of exhaustion, being overwhelmed

Definitions

  1. being to heavily burdened by greater workload than one can withstand, nearly to the point of exhaustion, being overwhelmed

Ancestry of “tối tăm mặt mũi”, step by step

tối tăm mặt mũi traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Vietnamese mặt mũi

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesemặt mũilook; countenance; physiognomy
2Vietnamesemũinose; tip; cape
3Proto-Vieticmuːsnose
4Proto-Mon-Khmermuhnose

via Vietnamese tối tăm

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesetối tămdark generally speaking
Every word from Proto-Mon-Khmer muh →Every word from Proto-Vietic muːs →Every word from Vietnamese mũi →