cơm no rượu say
Full of rice and warm with wine — fed, watered and thoroughly content.
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cơm thừa canh cặn
leftover rice and soup dregs
cơm tẻ là mẹ ruột
Plain rice is the true mother — the humble staple that actually keeps you alive.
cơm vua nợ dân
The king's rice is the people's debt — every stipend was first a tax.
cơm vua áo chúa
The king's rice, the lord's cloth — fed and clothed by power, and owned accordingly.
cơn mưa đằng đông, vừa trông vừa chạy, cơn mưa đằng nam, vừa làm vừa chơi
Rain from the east: watch it and run; rain from the south: work on and play — the sky's directions, sorted by threat.
cơn đen vận túng
A black spell and a strapped season — luck's low tide and the purse's together.
cư an tư nguy
In peace, prepare for peril — while things are calm, plan for the day they aren't.
cư bất quá dong tất
A dwelling need only fit the knees — lodging asks sufficiency, not splendor.
cưa thợ mộc
The carpenter's saw — back and forth, giving a little each pass; steady reciprocation.
cưa đứt đục suốt
Saw it through, chisel it clean — settling matters crisply, each item squared away.
cưu cư thước sào
The cuckoo lodging in the magpie's nest — comfort claimed in another's building.
cương quế chi tánh, dủ lão dủ tân
Ginger and cinnamon sharpen with age — the old grow only more pungent in wit and savor.
cướp trên giàn mướp
Robbery up on the squash trellis — a grab so brazen it's done in plain sight, overhead.
cười hở mười cái răng
A laugh that bares all ten teeth — mirth past the limit of grace.
cười không nhặt được mồm
Laughing till you can't pick your mouth back up — helpless, unstoppable laughter.
cười người chớ khá cười lâu, cười năm trước năm sau cười mình
Laugh at others briefly — this year's laughingstock is next year's mirror.
cười người hôm trước, hôm sau người cười
"Minor successes or failures along the way are of no significance – the person who is ultimately triumphant is the only real winner.".
cười ra nước mắt
Laughing out tears — smiling through what should be wept over.
cười tét rún
Laughing till your navel splits — doubled over, aching with laughter.
cưỡi ngựa xem hoa
Viewing flowers from horseback — skimming past a thing that deserved a real look.
cưỡi đầu cưỡi cổ
Riding on heads and necks — trampling over people, lording it over them utterly.
cưỡi đầu voi
Riding the elephant's head — perched on the most powerful seat.
cưỡi đầu voi dữ
Riding the head of a rogue elephant — mastery of what may bolt at any breath.
cạn nước tới cái
When the water drains, the fish traps show — wait for events to bottom out and act on what appears.
cạp đất mà ăn
impoverished; impecunious; destitute
cả gió tắt đuốc
Criticism or pressure that is too harsh snuffs out motivation instead of correcting it.
cả giận, mất khôn
losing temper will lead to a lapse in judgment
cả nhà
(phrase) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cả, nhà.
cải cựu tòng tân
Casting off the old to follow the new — reforming; leaving outdated ways for modern ones.
cải lão hoàn đồng
To restore the old to youth — rejuvenating; giving something fresh vigor and a second spring.
cải tà quy chính
to switch from sin to the right path; to mend one's ways; to turn over a new leaf
cấm chợ ngăn sông
Closing the markets and barring the rivers — strangling trade and movement with blockades and decrees.
cầm cân nảy mực
Holding the scales and snapping the ink-line — to arbitrate; to be the one who sets the fair standard.
cầm cân thăng bằng
Holding the scales level — keeping to strict fairness in all dealings.
cầm dầu có hòng ướt tay
Handle oil and your hands will glisten — manage money or goods long enough and some rubs off; custody breeds seepage.
cầm khỉ một ngày, biết khỉ múa
Keep a monkey a day and you've seen its dances — proximity teaches character quickly.
cầm lấy 2 tỷ
The melodrama pay-off line — "take the two billion (and stay away from my child)" — lifted from romance-drama break-up scenes and remixed with scrambled word order for comedy ("take my daughter and stay away from the two billion").
cầm lửa đốt giời
Using flesh to crush people — bulk, or numbers, as the whole argument.
cầm đèn chạy trước ô tô
to jump the gun, to get ahead of oneself
cần bất như chuyên
Diligence is less than constancy — bursts of zeal lose to steady application.
cần lời giải thích
I need explanation; this needs explanation
cầu danh bất cầu lợi
Seeking fame, disclaiming profit — a boast, since fame and profit travel together.
cầu sung vừa đủ xài
to offer certain fruits during Tết as a way to wish for fortune
cầu sương điếm cỏ
Frosty bridges and grass-hut shelters — a drifting, roofless life on the road.
cầu tàu vươn ra biển
jetty extending into the sea
cầu được ước thấy
the one getting what they want
cầy thuê quốc mướn
Pointing at stags and gibbons — directions offered to every horizon but the useful one.
cẩn tắc vô ưu
Close to the English saying: “Harm watch is harm catch.”.
cẩn tắc vô ưu, vô áy náy
better safe than sorry
cẩu lương
“Dog food” — public displays of affection force-fed to the single people watching.
cận thủy tri ngư, cận lâm thức điểu
Near water you learn fish; near forest you learn birds — knowledge grows where you live.
cậu cai nói dấu lông gà, cổ tay đeo nhẫn gọi là cậu cai. Ba năm được một chuyến sai, áo ngắn đi mượn, quần dài đi thuê
Master Cai sports a feather in his hat and a ring on his wrist — one errand in three years, the short coat borrowed and the long trousers hired — colonial petty rank, dressed entirely in loans.
cắm sào đợi nước
Pole planted, waiting for the tide — paused mid-river until conditions turn.
cắm sừng
to cuckold (one's husband)/cuckquean (one's wife); to put horns on (one's spouse); to be unfaithful to (one's spouse)
cắm đầu cắm cổ
Head down, neck down — rushing headlong, or slogging away without once looking up.
cắn răng, chằn con mắt
Teeth clenched, eyes stretched — enduring with the jaw shut and the gaze forced open.
cắt cổ con nít
Throat-cutting rates — extortionate, daylight-robbery pricing.
cắt dây bầu dây bí, chẳng ai cắt dây chị em
Cut the gourd vine, cut the squash vine — no one cuts the vine between sisters — kinship is the one uncuttable creeper.
cặp bài trùng
perfect pair; perfect match