sảy mẹ bú dì
Losing mother, nursed by aunt — orphaned into the next-best arms.
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Where will you be? Anywhere Hà Nội & the NorthHuế / Đà Nẵng & the CenterSài Gòn & the SouthOnline slang Bắc ↔ Nam words
sảy mẹ còn cha
Lose mother, father remains — the family's chain of shelter: father, then uncle, then aunt.
sẩm vào cuội ra
The rich eat; the poor endure — the same table, two experiences.
sẩm vớ được gậy
The blind minstrel finds a staff — the needed thing arriving in the neediest hand.
sắc
(adjective) sharp (able to cut easily)
sẽ gầy
Sẽ gầy — punning slang ('will get thin') for same-sex intimacy between men.
sểnh nạ quạ tha
Stray from mother and the crow carries you off — the unwatched small are the taken small.
số cô chẳng giàu thì nghèo Ngày ba mươi Tết thịt treo trong nhà. Số cô có mẹ có cha Mẹ cô đàn bà, cha cô đàn ông. Số cô có vợ có chồng, sinh con đầu lòng, chẳng gái thì trai
Your fate: if not rich then poor; on Tết's eve, meat hangs in the house; you have a mother and father — mother female, father male; a spouse awaits, and your firstborn — girl if not boy — the immortal parody of fortune-tellers.
số giàu tay trắng cũng giàu, số nghèo chín đụn mười trâu cũng nghèo
Fated rich, empty hands still prosper; fated poor, nine barns and ten buffalo still drain away — fortune as the senior partner.
số giàu đem đến dửng dưng, lọ là con mắt tráo trưng mới giàu
Fated rich, wealth ambles up unbidden — bulging eyes were never the way to riches.
số là
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see số, là.
sống chết mặc bay
Live or die, it's your affair — total, shameless abandonment of responsibility.
sống gởi nạc, thác gởi xương
Alive, entrusting the flesh; dead, the bones — the orphan's plea for keeping, cradle to grave.
sống khôn chết thiêng
Wise in life, hallowed in death — a good soul keeps its power past the grave.
sống lâu lên lão làng
Live long enough, become the village elder — seniority as an automatic promotion.
sống mỗi người một nết, chết mỗi người một tật
Alive, each their own quirk; dead, each their own flaw — individuality persists to the grave and past the eulogy.
sống một đồng không hết, chết mười đồng không đủ
Alive, one coin lasts; dead, ten aren't enough — the funeral spends what the life saved.
sống quê cha, ma quê chồng
Live in father's village, haunt the husband's — a woman's addresses, in life and after.
sống thì con chẳng cho ăn Chết thì xôi thịt, làm văn tế trời
Alive, you gave them nothing to eat; dead, you lay out feasts and read odes to heaven — the verse that shames performative mourning.
sống đồng tịch đồng sàng, thác đồng quan đồng quách
One mat and bed in life, one coffin in death — the marriage vow at its most absolute.
sống ở làng, sang ở nước
Live by the village, shine by the nation — belonging local, honor national.
sứa đâu có nhảy khỏi đăng
The jellyfish never jumps the weir — children do not overleap their parents' word.
sức dài vai rộng
Sallow face, lead-grey skin — illness or want written on the complexion.
sự bất quá tam
Nothing goes past three — three tries tells the tale; the customary limit of patience and proof.
sự bất đắt dỉ
A matter past helping — necessity's signature on the unwanted deed.
sự cữu kiến nhơn tâm
Time discloses the heart — only the long acquaintance audits truly.
sự hữu thỉ chung, vật phân bổn mạc
Affairs have beginning and end, things root and branch — order is built into whatever exists.
ta nắm đằng chuôi
We hold the handle end — the safe grip in whatever is about to swing.
ta về ta tắm ao ta, dù trong dù đục, ao nhà vẫn hơn
Home again, I bathe in my own pond — clear or murky, the home pond is still better — belonging over perfection.
tai liền miệng đấy
Ears wired straight to mouth — much said, nothing retained, no one listening.
tai qua nạn khỏi
to get out of danger; to get away unscathed
tai to mặt lớn
having power or influence in society; powerful; influential
tai vách mạch dừng
walls have ears
tai vách, mạch rừng
"What you say may be overheard; used as a warning.".
tam ngu thành hiền
Three fools make a sage — enough dull heads together strike one wise spark.
tam ngôn lưỡng ngữ
Three words and two phrases — the briefest of exchanges.
tam nhơn đồng hành tất hữu ngã sư diên
Three walking together, one is my teacher — company always contains a lesson, counting yourself in.
tam sinh hữu hạnh
The luck of three lifetimes — an honor so great it must have been saved up across incarnations.
tam đa, ngũ phước
The three abundances and five blessings — sons, wealth and rank; long life, riches, health, loved virtue, a good end.
tan cửa nát nhà
Gate shattered, house crushed — ruin completed at the architectural level.
tao khang
A wife who stayed with her partner since the beginning through thick and thin
tay bưng dĩa muối chấm gừng, gừng cay muối mặn xin đừng quên nhau
Hands lifting the salt dish and ginger — ginger hot, salt sharp: let us not forget each other — hardship shared is the bond.
tay không chơn rồi
Empty hands, idle feet — no estate, no employment, nothing yet begun.
tay làm hàm nhai
Close to the English saying: “He that does not work shall not eat.”.
tay nâng khăn gói sang sông Mồ hôi ướt đẫm, thương chồng phải theo
Bundle raised, she crosses the river — soaked in sweat, she follows for love of her husband.
tay sách nách mang
Hands full, armpits laden — carrying to capacity and past it.
TCN
initialism of trước Công Nguyên (“before the Common Era”)
tham buổi giỗ lổ buổi cày
Chasing the feast-day, forfeiting the plow-day — one gain always billed to another loss.
tham bát bỏ mâm
Grabbing the bowl and dropping the tray — snatching the small gain and losing the great one.
tham gia lớp thể dục
to take a fitness class
tham như mõ
Greedy as the town crier's clapper — hungry for every last thing.
tham sinh uý tử
to value one's life so much to the point of being cowardly
tham sinh úy tử
Clinging to life, cowering from death — survival at the price of all dignity.
tham thì thâm
Close to the English saying: “Grasp all, lose all.”.
tham thì thâm dầm thì đen
Greed cuts deep as soaking dyes dark — the grasping hand comes back stained.
tham thực cực thân
Greedy eating, weary body — the stomach writes checks the frame must cash.
tham vui chịu lận,
Chasing the fun, accepting the fleecing — the gambler pays admission to his own ruin.
tham vì nết, chẳng hết chi người
Covet the character, not the looks — nothing else in a person outlasts their conduct.
tham đắc vô yếm
Grasping without ever gorging — the appetite that no acquisition quiets.
tham đắc vô ỉm
Greed without ceiling — the snake that would swallow the elephant.