nhất duyên, nhì phận, tam phong-thổ
First the match, second the lot, third the land you live on — fortune's ranked ingredients for a marriage.
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nhất dáng nhì da thứ ba là tóc
First the figure, second the skin, third the hair — the folk ranking of beauty's assets.
nhất dáng, nhì da, thứ ba khuôn mặt
first a well-shaped figure, second smooth and clear skin, third a pretty face
nhất gái hơn hai, nhì trai hơn một
A husband who is two years older than the wife, or a wife one year older than the husband, is desirable.
nhất hô bá ứng
One call, a hundred answers — a leader whose word the whole body moves on.
nhất kiến như cựu thức
At first sight, like an old acquaintance — kinship recognized before introduction.
nhất lé, nhì lùn, tam hô, tứ rỗ
First the cross-eyed, second the short, third the bucktoothed, fourth the pockmarked — a folk ranking that warns these unassuming-looking people are the sharpest (or most formidable) in the room. Teasing by design and unkind by modern lights; quoted with a wink, not as science.
nhất nam viết hữu, thập nữ viết vô
one boy means one, ten girls mean none
nhất ngôn cửu đỉnh
One word, nine bronze cauldrons — a promise with the weight of the ancient dynastic vessels behind it: what is said once is final and binding.
nhất ngôn ký xuất, tứ mã nan truy
a word once spoken cannot be taken back; a promise must be kept; a promise is a promise
nhất nhật vi sư, chung thân vi phụ
He who teaches you, even for a day, should be regarded as your father for the rest of your life.
nhất nước, nhì phân, tam cần, tứ giống
in order of priority for successful culture, water, manure/fertilizer, hard work, cultivars
nhất quỉ nhì ma
First devils, second ghosts, third schoolboys — the ranking that crowns students the worst of the three.
nhất sĩ nhì nông, hết gạo chạy dông, nhất nông nhì sĩ
First the scholar, then the farmer — but when the rice runs out and you're running loose: first the farmer, then the scholar — rank revised by the granary.
nhất thả cá, nhì gá bạc
First, fish-trapping; second, hosting the gambling — the two quick fortunes, both wet.
nhất tiếu thiên kim
a beautiful woman's smile is extremely precious
nhất tiễn song điêu
to kill two birds with one stone
nhất trần đời
First in all the mortal world — beyond compare, bar none.
nhất vợ nhì giời
First the wife, then heaven — the henpecked cosmology, ranked honestly.
nhẫn nhứt thì chi khí, miễn bá nhựt chi ưu
Swallow one moment's anger, spare a hundred days' grief — the exchange rate of forbearance.
nhập gia tuỳ tục
when in Rome, do as the Romans do
nhập gia tuỳ tục, nhập giang tuỳ khúc
when in Rome, do as the Romans do
nhập gia tùy tục
Traditional tone placement spelling of nhập gia tuỳ tục.
nhập giang tùy khúc, nhập gia tùy tục
Enter the river by its bends, the house by its customs — adapt to each place's own grain.
nhắm mắt làm liều
Eyes shut, chancing it — commitment by deliberate blindness.
nhặt lá đá ống bơ
overly curious in taking a crack at miscellaneous items, usually with no or little purpose
nhẹ bằng lông quăng không đi, nặng bằng chì quăng xa lắc
Light as a feather yet unthrowable; heavy as lead yet it sails — handling, not weight, decides the task.
nhổ cỏ nhổ cả rễ
Pull the weed, pull the root — if you must destroy, destroy to the last fiber or it grows back.
nhớ ai bổi hổi bồi hồi, như đứng đống lửa như ngồi đống than
Missing someone, restless and turning — like standing in a bonfire, like sitting on coals — longing rendered in embers.
nhớ nha
"Don't forget, okay?" — the sweet Southern reminder-sealer; sticks any promise with two syllables.
nhờ lụt đẩy rều
Riding the flood to push the driftwood — borrowing one current to move another cargo.
nhời nói bằng đọi máu
A word weighs a bowl of blood — speech can cost exactly that much; weigh it first.
nhời nói là gói vàng
A word is a packet of gold — speech carries bullion weight; spend it carefully.
nhục huyền hổ khẩu
Meat hung at the tiger's mouth — property, or persons, parked in the one place sure to consume them.
nhứt bất tố, nhị bất hưu
First, don't start; second, don't stop — begin nothing, or finish everything.
nhứt chứng phi nhì chứng quả
One witness proves nothing, two prove all — testimony's arithmetic in the old courts.
nhứt có râu nhì bầu bụng
First a beard, then a gourd belly — the physiognomy of prosperity, whiskers before waistline.
nhứt dạ sanh bá kế
One night breeds a hundred schemes — the sleepless heart is a workshop of plots.
nhứt là voi một ngà, nhì là người ta một mắt
Beware the one-tusked elephant and the one-eyed man — folk physiognomy's two flagged dangers.
nhứt nghệ tinh, nhứt thân vinh
One craft mastered, one life honored — a single trade polished to shine carries its owner whole.
nhứt ngôn khả dĩ hưng ban, nhứt ngôn khả dĩ tán ban
One sentence can raise a state, one sentence can ruin it — weigh speech like statecraft.
nhứt nhựt bất kiến, như tam ngoạt hề
One day unseen, three autumns long — absence stretching every hour into a season.
nhứt nhựt bất niệm thiện, chư ác giai tự khởi
Skip one day of good intent and every evil sprouts by itself — virtue is daily maintenance.
nhứt nhựt tại tù, thiên thu tại ngoại
One day in prison, a thousand autumns outside — captivity's clock runs a millennium per day.
nhứt nhựt vi sư
A teacher for one day is a teacher — instruction of an hour earns a lifetime's respect.
nhứt pháp lập nhứt tệ sanh
Each new law births its own racket — every fresh rule feeds the clerks who work its loopholes.
nhứt tinh chi hỏa năng thiêu vạn khoảnh chi tân, bán cú phi ngôn ngộ tổ bình sanh chi đức
One spark burns ten thousand cords of wood; one crooked half-sentence burns a lifetime's virtue — fire and speech, same physics.
nhứt ẩm nhứt trác sự giai tiền định
Every sip and every peck was settled beforehand — down to the least mouthful, the script is prior.
nhữ tác ưng hoàn nhữ thọ
You did it, you answer for it — the deed's invoice is addressed to its maker.
những khi trái nắng trở trời, con đau là mẹ đứng ngồi không yên. Trọn đời vất vả triền miên, chăm lo bát gạo vàng bạc nuôi con
When the weather crossed and the child fell ill, mother could neither stand nor sit — a whole life of ceaseless toil, trading rice-bowls of gold to raise her young.
những người con mắt lá răm Lông mày lá liễu đáng trăm quan tiền
Eyes like knotweed leaves and willow-leaf brows — worth a hundred strings of coin — the classical inventory of a lovely face.
nhựt một đồ cùng
The sun low, the road ended — old age's dusk, past all racing.
nhựt nguyệt tuy minh, nam chiếu phúc bồn chi hạ
Sun and moon shine, but never under the upturned basin — even genius has its blind hollow.
ninh thọ tử bất ninh thọ nhục
Rather death than disgrace — the neck outranks the name in no ledger that matters.
ninh vi sơn thượng hổ, bất tác phủ trung ngư
Better a tiger on the mountain than a fish in the pot — sovereignty in the wild over comfort in captivity.
niên nguyệt tuy đa, bất quá nhứt bổn nhứt tức
However many the years, interest may not pass principal — the old usury cap: one capital, one interest.
no bụng đói con mắt
His eyes are bigger than his belly.
no cơm dửng mỡ
Full of rice and frisky — comfort breeding mischief.
no dồn đói góp
Feast crammed, famine scraped — bingeing and starving by turns; no steady measure.
no hết ngon, giận hết khôn
Full spoils the appetite, fury spoils the wits — anger is a brief insanity.
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