áo gấm mặc đêm
A brocade robe worn at night — splendor no one is awake to see.
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Where will you be? Anywhere Hà Nội & the NorthHuế / Đà Nẵng & the CenterSài Gòn & the SouthOnline slang Bắc ↔ Nam words
áo mặc qua đầu
The shirt still goes on over the head — hierarchy holds, whatever the fashion.
áo mặc sao qua khỏi đầu
No shirt goes on over the head — children don't overrule their parents.
áo rách vá vai
A torn shirt patched at the shoulder — poverty worn honestly and mended with care.
áo vắn, giũ chẳng nên dài
A short shirt can't be shaken longer — accept the measure of what you have.
âm cực dương hồi
At the end of yin, yang returns.
âm thịnh dương suy
having more females than males
ân trạch như núi
Kindness weighty as a mountain — a debt of gratitude past repaying.
âu cũng là cái liễn
It's all much the same pot — a punning shrug that what happened was bound to be so, and one may as well accept it.
ét ô ét
“S.O.S!” — mock distress call for funny emergencies.
ích kỉ hại nhơn
Profit to self, harm to others — gain whose invoice goes to one's neighbors.
ít thầy đầy đãy
Fewer monks, fuller alms-bags — the fewer who share, the fatter each portion.
ôm cây đợi thỏ
to be conservative; to resist change and innovation; to stick to old principles
ôm rơm rặm bụng
to take on unnecessary burden; to bring trouble upon oneself
ôn cố nhi tri tân
Warm the old to know the new — revision is where discovery lives.
ôn cố tri tân
One should be able to derive new understanding while revising what one has learned.
ôn, lương, cung, kiệm, nhượng
Be cordial, kind, courteous, modest, and deferential.
ông chẳng bà chuộc
He says 'chẳng', she says 'chuộc' — two people forever at cross purposes, like the toad-call pair.
ông già bà cả
The old folks and elders — the aged, taken together with respect.
ông nói gà, bà nói vịt
he said, she said
ông tha mà bà chẳng tha, đánh một cái lụt mồng ba tháng mười
Grandfather forgives, grandmother doesn't — the tenth-month flood that always comes anyway; mercy overruled at home.
ông thông bà phán
The clerk and the madam commissioner — the petty officialdom that swaggers around an office.
ông ăn chả, bà ăn nem
he eats chả, she eats nem
ù té quyền
To run away, flee, or bail out of an awkward, difficult, or dangerous situation as fast as possible — always said with a wink.
ú na ú nấn
Plump and podgy — soft, chubby rolls everywhere.
ý hạp tâm đầu
Minds meeting and hearts agreeing — perfectly matched in temper and intent.
ý nhạc tâm tình
Music's thought, heart's feeling — melody and emotion moving as one.
Ăn miếng trả miếng
Eat one, pay one. Tit for tat .
ăn bơ làm biếng
Loafing and shirking — idleness practiced as a discipline.
ăn bớt bát, nói bớt nhời
One bowl fewer at the table, one word fewer in the mouth — moderation twice over.
ăn cho sống không phải sống mà ăn
Eat to live, don't live to eat — appetite demoted to staff, not management.
ăn cháo đá bát
To be ungrateful — to turn against or abandon the very person who helped you.
ăn chín uống sôi
to practice good hygiene by only consuming cooked food and boiled water
ăn chó cả lông
Eating the dog, fur and all — appetite, or greed, that refuses no part.
ăn chõ ngồi chẽ
Mind the steamer, sit with care — a dialect cousin of 'watch the pot as you eat, watch the direction as you sit.'
ăn chắc mặc bền
to prioritize durability and utility over luxury or aesthetics
ăn chẳng nên đọi, nói chẳng nên nhời
Eating short of a bowl, speaking short of a sentence — competence arriving nowhere whole.
ăn chặn
to embezzle, pocket, or intercept money or goods that belong to others (especially by taking a cut from wages, relief funds, or payments)
ăn có bữa lo không có bữa
Meals have their hours; worry keeps none — eating is bounded, care is boundless.
ăn có mời, làm có khiến
Eat when invited, work when bidden — propriety waits for the summons.
ăn có nhai, nói có nghĩ
Chew before swallowing, think before speaking — the mouth's two duties, both requiring pause.
ăn cơm chúa, múa tối ngày
Eat the lord's rice, dance till nightfall — whoever feeds you commands your day.
ăn cơm mắm thấm về lâu
Fish-paste rice seeps in slowly — plain fare, like plain truth, soaks deep with time.
ăn cơm mới nói chuyện cũ
Over new rice, tell the old stories — the harvest table is where memory eats.
ăn cơm quốc gia, thờ ma cộng sản
to eat the State's rice while worshiping the Communist spirits
ăn cơm tập thể
Mess-hall living — the crowded, threadbare communality of dormitory rice.
ăn cướp còn la làng
The robber crying 'thief!' loudest — the guilty party howling as the victim.
ăn cỗ có phần
Attend the feast and a portion is yours — presence collects its share.
ăn gửi nằm nhờ
Eating as a lodger, sleeping as a guest — a life boarded entirely on sufferance.
ăn hành
To get wrecked, suffer, or be put through the wringer (originally gaming slang).
ăn hả hả, trả ỷ ỷ
Borrow beaming, repay cringing — the two faces of every loan.
ăn hết nhiều, ở hết bao nhiêu
Eating consumes plenty; dwelling consumes how much? — food is the true expense; lodging is cheap.
ăn kĩ làm dối
Thorough at eating, slapdash at working — careful only where the appetite is concerned.
ăn kỉ no dai
Careful eating keeps you full the longer — providence now is comfort later.
ăn kỹ no lâu, cầy sâu tốt lúa
Chew well, stay full; plow deep, reap thick — thoroughness feeds twice.
ăn làm sóng, nói làm gió
Making waves of meals and wind of words — stirring commotion out of eating and talking alike.
ăn lông ở lỗ
to live as if one is a prehistoric man
ăn lắm ỉa nhiều
Much eating, much dunging — the idle glutton produces nothing else.
ăn may
(verb) to win or succeed by sheer luck rather than skill or effort
ăn mày dĩ vãng
To beg from the past — to live off old glories and keep trading on what you once did.
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