đặng buồng nầy khuây buồng nọ
This bunch in hand, that bunch forgotten — gratitude with the shelf life of a banana.
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đặng chim bẻ ná
Bird bagged, crossbow snapped — ingratitude that also disarms tomorrow's hunt.
đặng chì đặng chài
Getting sinker and net both — one gain towing a second; advantage compounding.
đặng cá quên nơm
Fish in hand, trap forgotten — the instrument of the catch is the first thing dropped.
đặng phe của mất phe con
Win the wealth's faction, lose the children's — few estates come out whole on both counts.
đẹp như chanh vẽ
Pretty as a painted lime — decorative perfection with nothing to squeeze.
đẹp như tiên
Lovely as a fairy — beauty at full folklore grade.
đẹp như tiên sa
Beautiful as a fairy descended — loveliness visiting from a better address.
đẻ con chẳng dạy chẳng răn, thà rằng nuôi lợn mà ăn lấy lòng
Raise a child without teaching or scolding, and you'd have done better fattening a pig for its organs — the harshest verse on parental duty.
đẻ sau khôn trước
Born later, wise sooner — the child outthinking the elders' seniority.
đẻ đứa con trai, chẳng biết nó giống ai. Cái mặt thì giống ông cai, cái đầu ông xã, cái tai ông trùm
She bore a son and can't tell whom he favors — the face is like the corporal, the head like the commune chief, the ears like the parish warden — satire aimed at every rank at once.
đẽo cày giữa đường
Carving a plow in the middle of the road — reworking a task to every passerby's advice until nothing is finished.
đến nơi đến chốn
very thoroughly, without half-assing
đến đầu đến đũa
Through to the chopstick-ends — done properly, all the way to the finish.
đền ơn đáp nghĩa
to show one's gratitude; to repay a kindness (usually in reference to war-time sacrifices made)
để cho
In order to.
đệ tử phục kỳ lao
The student shoulders the toil — apprenticeship's tuition is paid in labor.
đỉa đeo chơn hạt
A leech clinging to the crane's leg — attachment far above its station.
đỉnh của chóp
The peak of the peak — absolutely top-tier.
địa linh nhân kiệt
Sacred ground breeds exceptional people — a storied land and the talents it raises.
đố ai bắt chạch đằng đuôi, bắt chim đầu cánh, bắt người trong trăng
Who can catch the loach by its tail, the bird by its wingtip, the person in the moon — a dare-list of impossibilities.
đố ai lặn xuống vực sâu, mà đo miệng cá, uốn câu cho vừa
Who dares dive to the deep pool's floor to measure the fish's mouth and bend the hook to fit — the impossible errands of doubt.
đố ai đếm được lá rơi Đố ai đếm được hết từng trời cao Đố ai đếm được vì sao Đố ai đếm công cha nghĩa mẹ
Count the falling leaves if you can, count the layers of the sky, count the stars — then count a father's labor and a mother's love — the impossible arithmetic of gratitude.
đống trấu nhà để gà người bươi
Your own chaff-heap, scratched open by others' hens — the household's private mess, published by outsiders.
đồng bệnh tương liên
people who suffer the same illness look out for each other
đồng cam cộng khổ
to share the joys and sorrows (usually emphasising the “sorrow” part)
đồng sàng dị mộng
people live or work together but have very different interests or agendas
đồng thanh tương ứng
Like voices answer like — kindred natures find and echo one another.
đồng thinh tương ướng, đồng khí tương cầu
Like voices answer, like spirits seek — resonance assembles its own fellowship.
đồng Tháp Mười cò bay thẳng cánh Nước Tháp Mười lóng lánh cá tôm
Over Tháp Mười the storks fly straight-winged; its waters glitter with fish and shrimp — the Mekong marshland's plenty.
đồng thực đồng thọ
Eat together, answer together — those who shared the spoils share the sentence.
đồng tiền bát gạo
The coin and the bowl of rice — the hard-earned money and goods a thing costs.
đồng tiền liền khúc ruột
The coin is welded to the gut — money parts from its owner like a length of intestine.
đồng tử đồng sanh
Die together, live together — the oath at friendship's furthest edge.
đồng ác tương tế
The wicked aid the wicked — villainy runs a mutual-assistance society.
đồng Đăng có phố Kỳ Lừa, có nàng Tô Thị, có chùa Tam Thanh
Đồng Đăng has Kỳ Lừa street, the Lady Tô Thị, the Tam Thanh pagoda — the border town's three treasures in one breath.
đổ dầu vào lửa
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see pour, oil, fire.
đổ thêm dầu vào lửa
to add insult to injury; literally "to add kerosene to fire"
đổi bát bồ-hôi lấy bát cơm
A bowl of sweat traded for a bowl of rice — the exchange rate of honest labor, one to one.
đổi chủ dịch nô
get a new master but still remain a slave
đổi trắng thay đen
Trading white for black — falsification at the primary-color level.
độc cô cầu bại
The lone invincible begging for defeat — so unbeatable that victory itself is lonely.
độc khử độc
Poison expels poison — the venom cured by its own kind.
độc mộc nan chi đại hạ
One post cannot prop a great hall — a single strength, however true, fails under a communal roof.
độc thơ cầu lý
Read for the principle, not the penmanship — books are mined for meaning, not admired for strokes.
đời người có một gang tay, ai hay ngủ ngày còn có nửa gang
A life is one hand-span; sleep your days and it's half — mortality measured against the sleeper.
đời rau diếp
Suing over a sweet potato — litigation smaller than its court fees.
đời xưa trả báo mà chầy, đời nay trả báo một giây nhãn tiền
Retribution once took generations; now it settles before your eyes — karma's clearing time has shortened.
đờn khảy tai trâu
Plucking a lute at a buffalo's ear — refinement performed for an audience without the organ for it.
đụ mẹ
synonym of địt mẹ (“fuck”)
đục nước béo cò
Muddy water fattens the stork — confusion is somebody's feeding ground.
đứa có tình rình đức có ý
The schemer watches the wary — guile studies exactly those who might see it coming.
đứa dại làm, đứa khôn ăn
The fool does the making, the clever do the eating — labor and its yield, filed under different names.
đứa ăn mắm đứa khát nước
One eats the fish-paste, another gets the thirst — the pleasure booked to one account, the bill to another.
đức rộng tài cao
Broad in virtue, high in talent — able and principled, and honored for both.
đức Thọ gạo trắng nước trong, ai về Đức Thọ thong dong con người
Đức Thọ of white rice and clear water — visit and the people put you at ease — a district's reputation in a line.
đứng bên ni đồng, ngó bên tê đồng, mênh mông bát ngát, đứng bên tê đồng, ngó bên ni đồng, bát ngát mênh mông. Thân em như chẽn lúa đòng đòng, phất phơ giữa ngọn nắng hồng ban mai
Standing on this bank gazing at that field, on that bank gazing at this — vast and shimmering; and I, a milk-ripe rice stalk swaying in the young pink sun — the most beloved portrait of girl and delta.
đứng mũi chịu sào
to take responsibility for the hardest part of a common task; to bear the brunt; to take the helm
đứng ngồi không yên
to be restless; to feel uneasy; to be on tenterhooks; to fidget
đứng như trời trồng
to be rooted to the spot; to be unable to move due to fear, surprise, or other strong emotions.