miệng lằn lưỡi mối
Lizard mouths and termite tongues — small darting speech that poisons as it flickers.
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Where will you be? Anywhere Hà Nội & the NorthHuế / Đà Nẵng & the CenterSài Gòn & the SouthOnline slang Bắc ↔ Nam words
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 xỉu
About to faint — the all-purpose overwhelm marker, equally valid for deadlines, crushes, prices, and cuteness.
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.
má ơi
"MOM!" as an exclamation — the Southern gasp for shocks big and small; nobody's actual mother is being called.
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.
mèo già thua gan chuột nhắt
An old cat outdared by a baby mouse — age and rank losing nerve before the small and bold.
mèo hay ỉa bếp
The cat that fouls the hearth — the pet vice practiced exactly where it's most offensive.
mèo khen mèo dài đuôi
cats who boast of their own long tails
mèo lành chẳng ở mả, ả lành chẳng ở hàng cơm
A good cat doesn't haunt graves; a good girl doesn't haunt food-stalls — respectability keeps clear of low resorts.
mèo lành không ở mả
A decent cat doesn't haunt the graves — respectable creatures keep respectable addresses.
mèo mù vớ cá rán
To get lucky far beyond one’s ability or effort — undeserved windfall.
mèo mả gà đồng
vagabond; hobo
mèo nhỏ bắt chuột con
A small cat catches small mice — work scaled honestly to one's size.
mèo quào không xể vách đất
Cat-scratches don't gouge an earthen wall — feeble attacks on a solid thing.
mèo thấy mỡ
The cat that saw the lard — craving with its whiskers already in the dish.
mèo uống nước bể chẳng bao giờ cạn
A cat drinking the sea will never drain it — small appetites at large supplies cost nothing.
mèo đàng chó điếm
Alley cats and rogue dogs — the disreputable at their most ambulatory.
méo mó có hơn không
Close to the English saying: “Half a loaf is better than no bread.”.
mì chính cánh
Wing-grade MSG — a rare catch of a person, precious as premium seasoning in ration days.
mình gầy xác ve
Thin as a cicada's husk — wasted away to a shell.
Mình khỏe lắm, cảm ơn. Còn bạn?
I’m very well, thanks. And you?
mình sống hơn đống vàng
A living body outweighs a heap of gold — never mourn property with your life still on.
mình về có nhớ ta chăng, ta về ta nhớ hàm răng mình cười
Gone home, will you remember me? I go home remembering the teeth of your smile — the classic parting verse.
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