ma bắt coi mặt người ta
Even ghosts check the face before they seize — bullies read their victim first.
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Where will you be? Anywhere Hà Nội & the NorthHuế / Đà Nẵng & the CenterSài Gòn & the SouthOnline slang Bắc ↔ Nam words
ma chê quỉ hờn
Living straight and speaking true — the plain rule of an honest life.
ma cũ nạt ma mới
The old ghost hazes the new ghost — seniority's bullying, even among spirits.
ma không thương người ốm, kẻ-trộm không thương nhà nghèo
Ghosts don't pity the sick, thieves don't pity the poor — predators keep no exemptions for the pitiable.
ma ăn cỗ
any act carried out so clandestinely and secretly that all traces are erased, especially illicit affairs
mai đẹt ti ni
“My destiny” — fated love, pronounced the way a Thai drama made famous.
mang con bỏ chợ
synonym of đem con bỏ chợ
manh nhơn kị hạt mã, hắc dạ lâm thâm trì
A blind man on a blind horse, midnight at the deep pond's edge — recklessness stacked to its logical end.
may hơn khôn
Luck beats brains — the winner's shrug and the loser's consolation.
mi thanh mục tú
Fine brows and comely eyes — a delicately handsome face.
minh tâm khắc cốt
engraved in one's heart and carved on one's bones
miá sâu có đốt, nhà dột có nơi
Borers pick their cane-joint, leaks pick their spot — faults are located things; find the segment, find the culprit.
miếng ngon nhớ lâu, nhời đau nhớ đời
The delicious is remembered long; the wounding word, for life — the tongue's two aftertastes.
miếng thịt là miếng nhục
A morsel of meat is a morsel of shame — the pun that prices every begged mouthful (thịt reads as nhục, 'disgrace').
miếng trầu là đầu câu chuyện
paan is a conversation starter
miệng có thép
A mouth lined with steel — speech that cuts on contact.
miệng hùm, gan sứa
If you cannot bite, never show your teeth.
miệng khôn chôn dại
A wise mouth buries a foolish one — speech saves what silence would have sunk, and vice versa.
miệng kẻ sang có gang có thép
A grandee's mouth carries cast iron and steel — the powerful speak in enforceable metal.
miệng lưỡi thế gian
The world's mouths and tongues — public gossip and the judgment of strangers.
miệng lằn lưỡi mối
Lizard mouths and termite tongues — small darting speech that poisons as it flickers.
miệng thơn-thớt, dạ ớt ngâm
A mouth all silk, a heart of steeped chili — cordiality brined in malice.
miệng ăn núi lở
to spend one's money without generating any income; to fritter away a great fortune
mlem mlem
Yum — for delicious food or a delicious-looking someone; “kiwi kiwi” is the fruitier sequel.
ms
Texting shortcut for “mới” — just / new. “ms về” = just got home.
mua lầm, bán không lầm
The buyer errs; the seller never does — one side of the counter always knows the goods better.
mua may bán đắt
Lucky buying and brisk selling — the well-wisher's blessing on a trade or an opening sale.
mua mà cả, trả thêm bớt
Haggle the price down, then the extras up — the twin liturgy of a proper market purchase.
mua sỉ bán lẻ
Buy wholesale, sell retail — small trade; or gossip bought in bulk and retold in pieces.
mua trị bán loạn
Buy in order, sell in chaos — calm choosing, hasty unloading; commerce in wartime.
mua ván bán thuyền
Buy planks, sell the boat — trading up from the pieces to the whole.
mua đầu chợ bán cuối chợ
Bought at the market's head, sold at its tail — dealing in whatever passes through one's hands, nothing held for long.
muôn người như một
Ten thousand people as one — everyone of one mind and one movement.
muối bỏ biển
a drop in the bucket
muối bỏ bể không thấm vào đâu
Salt tossed in the sea — contribution vanishing into scale without a trace.
muối đổ ai xót
When the salt spills, who smarts? — a loss owned by everyone is mourned by no one.
muốn cho chắc, đắt cho người
To be sure of it, price it dear to others — what people pay for, they value.
muốn no thì phải chăm làm Một hạt thóc vàng chín giọt mồ hôi
To eat your fill, work with a will — one golden rice grain costs nine drops of sweat.
muốn sang thì bắc Cầu Kiều Muốn con hay chữ phải yêu lấy thầy
To cross to riches, build the Kiều bridge; for a lettered child, cherish the teacher — the old bridge-toll of education.
muốn ăn hét phải đào giun
To eat the thrush, first dig the worms — every delicacy starts in the dirt.
muốn ăn thì lăn vào bếp
if you are hungry, then you ought to cook for yourself, not waiting for others
muỗi đốt chân voi
A mosquito biting an elephant's leg — effort too puny to matter.
muộn còn hơn không
Better late than never.
mài dao dạy vợ
Whetting the knife while lecturing the wife — discipline sharpened where affection should be.
mài mực ru con, mài son đánh giặc
Grinding ink she lulls the child; grinding vermilion she routs invaders — the Vietnamese woman's two-handed legend.
màn treo lưới rách cũng treo
Where curtains hang, the torn net hangs too — keeping up with appearances beyond one's station.
màn trời chiếu đất
a situation where many people become homeless, especially after a disaster
mành treo trước gió
A bamboo blind hung in the wind — a life at the mercy of every gust.
má hồng mệnh mỏng
Rosy cheeks, thin thread of fate — the beautiful are dealt short lives and hard luck.
máu ai thâm thịt nấy
Whose blood, their flesh feels it — strike the child and the parent bleeds.
máu chẩy ruồi bâu
Where blood runs, flies gather — misfortune draws its own crowd of feeders.
máu loãng còn hơn nước lã
Thin blood still beats plain water — the faintest kinship outranks the closest stranger.
máy bay không người lái
drone; unmanned aircraft
máy bán vé đỗ xe
parking ticket machine
máy đo nồng độ cồn
breathalyzer
mâm cao cỗ đầy
High trays and full platters — hospitality at its most architectural.
mãi mận
Forever wonderful; unbreakably tight — mận puns on mặn mà (charming), keo means glue-tight.
mãn chiêu tổn, khiêm thọ ích
Pride invites loss, humility receives gain — the full cup spills first.
mèo già hoá cáo
the older someone is, the more cunning they become
mèo già hoá cáo, cáo già ra ma
An old cat turns fox, an old fox turns demon — cunning compounds with age.