Etymology

A wordplay on tham (貪, "avaricious, greedy") and thâm (深, "deep"). Literally, "greediness is a deep (tragedy)".

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [tʰaːm˧˧ tʰi˨˩ tʰɜm˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [tʰaːm˧˧ tʰɪj˧˧ tʰɜm˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [tʰaːm˧˥ tʰɪj˨˩ tʰɜm˧˥]