ăn cỗ có phần
Attend the feast and a portion is yours — presence collects its share.
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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.
ăn mày quen ngõ
The beggar knows the lane — habit wears its own path to the same door.
ăn mày đòi sôi-gấc, ăn chực đòi bánh-chưng
The beggar demanding gấc-red sticky rice, the freeloader demanding bánh chưng — dependency with a tasting menu.
ăn mắm ngắm về sau
Eat fish-paste, expect the thirst after — pleasures bill their sequel.
ăn mặn nói ngay
Eat salty and speak straight — better plain-living honesty than fasting hypocrisy.
ăn ngon miệng nhé
"Enjoy your meal" — said when serving or leaving someone to eat; the Vietnamese bon appétit.
ăn như gấu ăn giăng
Eating like the bear eating the moon — devouring on a mythological scale.
ăn nhờ ở đậu
to live in someone else's house and rely on them for food and shelter
ăn no sanh sự
A full belly breeds mischief — comfort is where trouble learns to walk.
ăn nên làm ra
to bring benefits; to be profitable
ăn nói xà lơ
Talking nonsense; saying something totally off — “xà lơ” is a playful take on “sai lơ” (dead wrong).
ăn quen, nhịn không quen
Indulgence comes easy; abstaining doesn't — appetites train faster than restraint ever will.
ăn quả bỏ hột
Eat the fruit, toss the seed — enjoyment that discards its own next harvest.
ăn sẻ sẻ đẻ ông voi
Eat like a sparrow, lose like an elephant — the gambler's diet: tiny wins, giant losses.
ăn sống nuốt tươi
Eaten raw and swallowed live — consumed without ceremony; overwhelmed in one bite.
ăn theo thuở, ở theo thì
Eat by the season, live by the times — bend your habits to the hour you're given.
ăn thì cho, buôn thì so
Food is given freely; goods are haggled — meals escape arithmetic, trade never does.
ăn thì hơn, hờn thì thiệt
Eating gains, sulking loses — storm off and you forfeit your share.
ăn thì vóc, học thì hay
Food builds the frame, study builds the mind — nourishment shows in the body, learning in the wit.
ăn thùng uống vại
to eat and drink excessively or gluttonously; to have a massive appetite
ăn to nói lớn
to be straightforward, bold, and decisive in one's conduct and speech
ăn trưa chưa
"Had lunch yet?" — the office corridor greeting; an invitation hides inside it more often than not.
ăn trước trả sau
Eat first, pay after — enjoying now what must be settled later.
ăn trầu cách mắt
Betel passed over one guest — the gift that skips an eye makes an enemy of it.
ăn trầu gẫm
Chewing betel in thought — turning the world over slowly, quid in cheek.
ăn trắng mặc trơn
to live a life of leisure, comfort, and wealth
ăn trộm có tang, chơi ngang có tích
Theft leaves evidence, mischief leaves a record — wrongdoing files its own paperwork.
ăn trộm quen tay, ngủ ngày quen mắt
Thieving trains the hand as day-sleep trains the eye — practice a vice and it becomes your nature.
ăn tàn phá hại
to be extremely destructive and wasteful; to consume resources without contributing anything
ăn tấm trả giặt
Eat broken rice, repay whole grains — borrow small and repay large, as gambling debts go.
ăn tục nói phét
to habitually use foul language and tell tall tales or lies
ăn vỏ dưa, thấy vỏ dừa mà sợ
Slipped on a melon rind, now afraid of coconut husks — one fall, and every peel looks lethal.
ăn xôi chùa ngọng miệng
Temple sticky-rice ties the tongue — accept a benefactor's food and your honest opinions choke.
ăn xổi
to eat food (usually vegetables) that has been pickled or prepared for immediate consumption
ăn xổi ở thì
short-sighted, lacking foresight; temporary, makeshift
ăn ốc nói mò
To eat snails and talk by groping — to make baseless guesses; to speak without knowing the facts.
ăn ở xởi lởi ông trời gởi cho
Live open-handed and heaven keeps you stocked — generosity is a supply line, not a leak.
ăn ở đây
"For here" — the dine-in half of the counter question; answer it before they ask and you sound local.
ải mĩ nhân
The beauty pass — the trap where a man's judgment goes to die; seduction deployed with intent.
ảo ma
Surreal to the point of suspicion — internet shorthand for "that can't be real". Often extended into the nonsense chant "ảo ma Canada".
ảo thật đấy
Deadpan "now that is unreal" — the meme-certified reaction to something absurd enough to question reality, popularized by streamer culture.
ảo tung chảo
So surreal the wok flips — maximum-strength "unbelievable", the cartoonish upgrade of "ảo" for things that break your sense of reality.
ấm a ấm ớ
Humming and hawing — mumbling evasively, never giving a straight answer.
ấm cật no lòng
Warm-backed and full-bellied — living in comfort and plenty.
ấm ớ hội tề
Mumbling like the village council — deliberately vague, neither confirming nor denying.
ấp rắn vào ngực
To clutch a snake to your chest — to shelter someone who will turn on you.
ầu ơ, gió đưa bụi chuối sau hè Anh mê vợ bé bỏ bè con thơ
Lullaby: wind stirs the banana clump behind the house — he chases the minor wife and abandons raft and children — the deserted family's cradle song.
ầu ơ, gió đưa gió đẩy về rẫy ăn còng Về sông ăn cá, về đồng ăn cua
Lullaby: wind blows and shoves — to the clearing for còng crabs, to the river for fish, to the fields for crabs — the roaming song of making-do.
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