nấu sử sôi kinh
Boiling the histories and simmering the classics — grinding study for the examinations.
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Where will you be? Anywhere Hà Nội & the NorthHuế / Đà Nẵng & the CenterSài Gòn & the SouthOnline slang Bắc ↔ Nam words
nấu xói
To badmouth or gossip about someone — "nói xấu" with its syllable onsets swapped nói-lái-style, written backwards online to slip past keyword filters and the subject's own searches.
nắm thằng có tóc, không ai nắm kẻ trọc đầu
if you're gonna grab onto someone, grab onto one with hair, don't grab onto a bald one
nắng bề nào, che theo bề ấy
Whichever side the sun beats, shade that side — adjust your shelter to the moment's glare.
nắng lửa mưa dầu
Fire-hot sun and oil-thick rain — weather, or fortune, at its most punishing.
nằm gai nếm mật
to undergo self-imposed hardships; to nurse vengeance
nằm giường cá nhân
Sleeping in a single bunk — barracks life; the lean communal years remembered in one bed-frame.
nằm mèo xó bếp
The cat curled in the kitchen corner — idleness installed at the warmest spot.
nằm ngửa nhổ ngược
Lying face-up and spitting upward — the insult that lands back on its author.
nặng gánh san hà
Heavy with the burden of rivers and mountains — carrying the weight of great undertakings.
nếm mật nằm gai
to undergo self-imposed hardships; to nurse vengeance; to endure hardships to accomplish some ambition
nịch ái bất minh, tham đắc vô yểm
Doting blinds and greed never fills — love without eyes, appetite without floor.
nối dáo cho giặc
Splicing a lance for the invader — arming the very hand raised against you.
nối dây tơ hồng
Tying the rose-silk thread — getting a couple married; performing the wedding.
nối giáo cho giặc
Passing the enemy your lance — abetting the foe; arming the wrongdoer.
nối gót
follow in someone's footsteps
nồi da xáo thịt
Boiling the flesh in a pot of its own skin — kin savaging kin; the family consuming itself.
nồi méo úp vung méo
A warped pot gets a warped lid — every misshape finds its matching cover.
nồi nào úp vung nấy
Every person has a fitting match — said of couples who suit each other (sometimes teasingly, of matched flaws).
nổi cơn tam bành
to boil over with anger; to fly into a rage
nổi trận lôi đình
Erupting in a thunderclap rage — fury like a storm breaking.
nội bất xuất, ngoại bất nhập
nothing inside can come out, nothing outside can come in
nội gia nô tỉ, xuất gia công khanh
Servant within the gate, minister beyond it — humility at home, dignity abroad.
nội gia tạo ác, ngoại kỉ tri văn
Shame made indoors is heard outdoors — the house's walls were never soundproof.
nợ chúa Chổm
Debts like Lord Chổm's — owing in every direction, legend-grade insolvency.
nợ lãnh là nợ mình
A guaranteed debt is your debt — co-sign and you've already begun repaying.
nợ như chúa Chổm
to be heavily indebted
nợ tiền kiếp
Wealth like drifting cloud — here at noon, gone by evening.
nợ đồng lần
Debt that rotates — life's borrowing circle: everyone owes, everyone repays, round and round.
nứa trôi sông
Bamboo adrift downriver — the unmoored, going where the water says.
nứt đố đổ vách
to be loaded; to be filthy rich
nửa người nửa ngợm
Half person, half creature — humanity incompletely installed.
nữ sanh ngoại tộc
Daughters pass to the outer clan — the old patrilineal accounting of a girl's belonging.
nực cười châu chấu đá xe, tưởng rằng chấu ngã ai dè xe nghiêng
Laughable, the grasshopper kicking the cart — yet the grasshopper stood and the cart tipped over — the underdog verse that history kept quoting.
Nam Kì sáu tỉnh em ơi
Southern region of six provinces
nam Kì sáu tỉnh em ơi Cửu Long chín ngọn cùng khơi một nguồn, sông Hương nước chảy trong luôn, núi Ngự danh tiếng cả muôn dặm ngoài
Vietnam's natural beauty and rich heritage
nam vô bồ-tát
Vietnamese proverb; English definition pending editorial review.
nam vô một bồ dao-găm, một trăm dao-mác
A man can withstand multiple attacks
nam vô một bồ lấy bốn
One good wife is better than several lovers
nam vô tửu như kỳ vô phong
A man without liquor is like a banner without wind
nam-nhi đại chí-khí
Men have great ambitions
nay gánh mai đội
Borrow money to repay a debt
nay tát đầm mai tát đìa, ngày kia giỗ hậu
Punishing someone today and another tomorrow
nay tát đầm, mai tát đìa
To procrastinate and put off tasks until later
nay ước mai ao
One's plans are often foiled by reality
nem công chả phượng
Vietnamese idiom; English definition pending editorial review.
Ngang lưng thì thắt bao vàng
When one has enough, they should be content and stop striving for more.
ngang như cua
Completely furious or extremely angry
ngang tài ngang sức
Having equal ability or strength
nghiêng nước nghiêng thành
extremely beautiful and attractive
nghiêng đồng đổ nước ra sông, vắt đất ra nước!
To make a futile effort
nghiện so vai
Complaining or comparing one's troubles to others
Nghèo nhân nghèo nghĩa thì lo
Being poor in both material and moral aspects is worrying
nghĩa tử là nghĩa tận
Filial duty is the utmost moral obligation
nghề tay trái
side job
nghểnh cổ cò
To stretch one's neck to get a glimpse of something
Ngoài miệng thì nói Nam mô
says one thing but does another
ngoăng-ngoả như ả bán gà
carefree and cheerful
ngoảnh đi con dại, ngoảnh lại con khôn
Children can be foolish or wise depending on the situation
nguồn đục thì dòng không trong, gốc cong thì cây không thẳng
A corrupted source leads to tainted outcomes