con cái khôn ngoan vẻ vang cha mẹ
Wise children are their parents' glory — the family's honor grows in its offspring.
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con có cha như nhà có nóc
"children need their fathers to be complete"
con có cha như nhà có nóc, con không cha như nòng nọc đứt đuôi
A child with a father is a house with a roof; without, a tadpole with its tail snapped off — shelter and its absence, in one image.
con công chẳng giống lông cũng giống kiến
The peacock's chick, if not its feathers then its gait — breeding shows one way or another.
con gái con đứa
what kind of girl that...
con gái làng Vờ đẹp như trong tranh
The girls of Vờ village, lovely as paintings — a local boast in one brushstroke.
con gái mười hai bến nước
A girl faces twelve landings — a woman's marriage is a ferry that may tie up at any of twelve shores, clear or murky.
con gái nói có là không, nói yêu là ghét, nói buồn là vui
A girl's 'yes' means no, her 'love' means hate, her 'sad' means glad — the teasing dictionary of courtship.
con học thóc vay
The child studies on borrowed rice — education mortgaged meal by meal.
con không khóc mẹ chẳng cho bú
The child that doesn't cry gets no milk — needs unvoiced go unfed.
con là máu, cháu là mủ
Children are blood; grandchildren are sap — love thins by one degree each generation.
con là nợ vợ là oan gia
Children are debts, a spouse the karmic creditor — the family knot as a ledger of past lives.
con mắt là ngọc
The eye is a jewel — sight exists to sort true from false; guard it from mixing fish-eyes with pearls.
con mắt ưa nhìn
An eye that likes the look of things — attraction at first inspection.
con một cháu một bầy
One child, then a brood of grandchildren — the single thread that widens into a weave; a blessed house.
con nhà tông không giống lông cũng giống cánh
the apple does not fall far from the tree
con nhà tông, chẳng giống lông cũng giống cánh
A child of pedigree — if not the feathers, then the wings — lineage shows somewhere, always.
con quan thì lại làm quan Con nhà kẻ khó, bắt cua tối ngày
The mandarin's child becomes a mandarin; the poor man's child catches crabs all day — heredity as the old regime's whole career ladder.
con ruồi đỗ nặng đòn cân
Even a settling fly tips the scales — no weight is too small to decide a fine balance.
con rô cũng tiếc, con diếc cũng muốn
Grudging the perch yet craving the carp — appetite refusing to choose between fish.
con sâu làm rầu nồi canh
one caterpillar spoils the broth pot
Con sâu làm rầu nồi canh - Một người làm đĩ xấu danh đàn bà
One drop of poison infects the whole of wine.
con trai con đứa
what kind of boy that...
con trâu là đầu cơ nghiệp
having a water buffalo allows one to start a business
con tạo xoay vần
The Creator's wheel keeps turning — fortune revolves; no one stays up or down for good.
con vua thì lại làm vua Con sải ở chùa thì quét lá đa
The king's child becomes king; the temple novice's child sweeps banyan leaves — station inherited, verse-form; the twin of the mandarin version.
con ông cháu cha
child or grandchild of an important person, a nepo baby
con ơi nhớ lấy câu này, cướp đêm là giặc, cướp ngày là quan
Child, remember this line: night robbers are bandits; day robbers are officials — the sharpest protest verse in the language.
cua thâm càng, nàng thâm môi
Dark-clawed crab, dark-lipped woman — the folk-reader's paired warnings.
cua tám cẳng
The crab has eight legs — and still walks sideways; equipment isn't direction.
cung chúc tân xuân
(noun) words of wishes and celebration for a wonderful new year
cung hỉ phát tài
May you have a prosperous New Year!
cà hẩy
The cà hẩy — the hip-thrust shimmy dance move that swept Vietnamese TikTok.
cà nhính
Cà nhính — gleeful, wriggling excitement; delight you can't sit still through.
cà răng múc mắt
File his teeth and scoop his eyes — rage at a debtor who has nothing; fury with nowhere to collect.
cà-cuống chết đến đít còn cay
The water-bug stays pungent to the very end — character's last drop is the same flavor as its first.
càng quen càng lèn cho đau
The closer the acquaintance, the harder the squeeze — familiarity licenses the heaviest demands.
càng đông càng vui
Close to the English saying: “The more, the merrier.”.
cành vàng lá ngọc
Golden boughs and jade leaves — born to nobility; a pampered child of privilege.
cày đồng đang buổi ban trưa, mồ hôi thánh thót như mưa ruộng cày, ai ơi bưng bát cơm đầy. Dẻo thơm một hạt đắng cay muôn phần
Plowing the field at high noon, sweat dripping like rain onto the furrows — whoever lifts a full bowl, remember: one fragrant grain, a world of bitterness — the fullest form of the farmer's-toil verse.
cá bể chim ngàn
Sea fish and mountain birds — the far-flung and untamable; those the net was never made for.
cá khô có trứng
Dried fish with roe — the impossible windfall; luck found where none could be.
cá không gặp nước
A fish that never met water — a talent stranded short of its element.
cá không ăn muối cá ươn, con không nghe mẹ trăm đường con hư
Fish that refuses salt spoils; a child that refuses its mother spoils a hundred ways — guidance rejected is ruin chosen.
cá lớn nuốt cá bé
survival of the fittest; big fish eat little fish
cá mè một lứa
birds of a feather flock together
cá mè một lứa, cá đuối tầy đầu
Silver carp, all one spawning — peas in a pod, and none the better pea.
cá sẩy cá lớn
The escaped fish is always the big one — what got away grows in the telling.
cá sống về nước
Fish live by water — every creature's fortune is its element.
cá tươi thì xem lấy mang, người khôn xem lấy hai hàng tóc mai
Fresh fish shows in the gills, a person's quality in the temples — inspection points for markets and matchmakers.
các hữu sở trường
Each has their strong suit — everyone owns some corner of excellence.
các kiểu
(phrase) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see các, kiểu.
cách núi ngăn sông
Mountains apart and rivers between — separated by distances hard to cross.
cái cò lặn lội bờ ao Hỡi cô yếm đào lấy chú tôi chăng chú tôi hay tửu hay tăm Hay nước chè đặc, hay nằm ngủ trưa Ngày thì ước những ngày mưa Đêm thì ước những đêm thừa trống canh
The stork wades the pond bank — o girl in the peach bodice, will you marry my uncle? He's fond of spirits and rice wine, thick tea and long naps; by day he wishes for rain-days, by night for one more watch of sleep — the great satirical matchmaking verse.
cái gọi là
that which is called...
cái khó ló cái khôn
Close to the English saying: “Adversity is the mother of wisdom.”.
cái kim trong bọc sẽ có ngày lòi ra
A needle in a cloth bundle will work its way out — no secret stays hidden forever.
cái lồn gì thế?
the fuck is/was that?
cái này là gì
what is this?
cái nết đánh chết cái đẹp
Close to the English saying: “Handsome is as handsome does.”.