huyện mãn nha môm không mãn
Magistrates rotate; the yamen stays — officials come and go, the clerks and their habits are forever.
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huấn luyện viên cá nhân
personal trainer
huấn luyện viên phòng gym
gym instructor; personal trainer
huề cả làng
Everyone square, nobody hurt — calling it even all around; a good-natured draw.
hà cớ gì
why the hell; why in the world; why in God's name
hà địa bất sanh tài
What soil breeds no talent? — genius is native to everywhere.
hàm chó vó ngựa
The dog's jaw and the horse's hoof — know where each creature strikes from, and stand elsewhere.
hàm huyết phúng nhơn tiên ô tự khẩu
Spraying blood at another fouls your own mouth first — every curse debits the curser.
hàng thịt nguýt hàng cá
The meat stall glares at the fish stall — rival trades, permanent side-eye.
hành thuyền kị mã tam phân mạng
Boat and saddle carry three parts of your life — travel by water or horse, and hold the other seven tight.
hành tàng hư thiệt tự gia tri, họa phước nhơn do cánh vấn thùy
Your hidden deeds, you alone know; then ask no one else where your luck comes from — fortune is the audit of secrets.
hào ly chi sai, thiên lý chi mậu
A hair's-breadth off at the start, a thousand miles off at the end — small errors compound by the league.
há miệng chờ sung
To wait passively for good fortune instead of working for it.
hái củi ba năm thiêu một giờ
Three years' firewood, one hour's blaze — hoarded labor spent in a single carelessness.
hãy cho bền chí câu cua, dầu ai câu trạnh câu rùa mặc ai
Steady at crab-fishing, whatever others hook — keep to your own line though the next rod pulls up turtles.
hòn đất ném đi, hòn chì ném lại
A clod of earth thrown over, a lump of lead thrown back — retaliation upgrading the ammunition.
hóng hớt
To eagerly lurk for gossip and drama — front-row seat, popcorn ready.
hót như khướu
Chattering like a laughing-thrush — melodious, endless, and mostly noise.
hôi như cú
Rank as an owl — a smell with a reputation.
hôm nay là ngày bao nhiêu?
What’s today’s date?
hôm nay là thứ mấy?
What day of the week is it today?
hôm nay trời đẹp quá!
What a lovely day!
hôm qua tát nước đầu đình, Bỏ quên cái áo trên cành hoa sen. Em được thì cho anh xin, Hay là em để làm tin trong nhà
Last night bailing water by the đình, I left my shirt on the lotus branch — if you found it, give it back; or keep it as my pledge — the most beloved courtship verse in Vietnamese.
hôn dạ khất ai, kiêu nhơn bạch nhựt
Begging pity by night, strutting by day — servile in the dark, insolent in the light.
hùm chết để da, người ta chết để tiếng
The tiger dies leaving its skin; a person dies leaving their name — choose which fame survives you.
hùm mất thịt
A tiger robbed of its meat — rage on four feet; no safe approach.
húng mọc tía-tô cũng mọc
Where mint sprouts, perilla sprouts too — one appetite's success invites the neighbor's imitation.
hút độc rắn
Hút độc rắn — 'sucking snake venom': slang for oral sex.
húy tử tham sanh
Dreading death, clinging to life — the instinct all creatures share, and honor sometimes overrules.
hơi đâu mà
indicating the action one's about to state is not necessary: no use
hơn chẳng bõ hao
The winnings don't cover the wear — victory at a net loss.
hư bột hư đường
Spoiled flour, spoiled sugar — a job botched past saving.
hương đảng mạc như xỉ
In the village, nothing outranks age — the hamlet's law: gray hair above every title.
hạ hồi phân giải
that will be explained in more detail later
hại nhơn nhơn hại
Harm others and harm answers — retribution pays in this life, not the next.
hải đường là ngọn đông lân
The crabapple bends its crown toward the eastern neighbor — a beauty inclining toward an admirer; from Truyện Kiều.
hất hàm
to jerk the chin so as to signal an occurrence or command, otherwise to display arrogance
hầm bà lằng xán cấu
The whole jumbled lot — everything shoveled in together, hodgepodge upon hodgepodge.
hậu dược thành công
The last doctor gets the credit — whoever's medicine coincides with the cure is called the genius.
hậu sanh khả úy
The young are to be feared — respect the ones coming up; Confucius said it of a child.
hậu sinh khả uý
the later generations are very capable; never underestimate someone younger than you
hắc giả tiên hành
a rule which dictates that black side goes first
hẹn gặp bạn ngày mai nhé
See you tomorrow.
hẹn gặp lại
see you later; see you
hẹn gặp lại sớm nhé
See you soon.
hết chay thầy đi đất
The fast over, the monk walks on bare ground — reverence lasts exactly as long as the ritual pays.
hết gạo chạy rông
Rice gone, running loose — the empty larder sends everyone into the streets.
hết nước chấm
Beyond words; nothing left to add — so complete (good or absurd) that even the dipping sauce ran out.
hết nạc vạc xương
Lean meat gone, scrape the bones — extraction continuing past the last worthwhile layer.
hết thuốc chữa
there's no cure
hết xôi rồi việc
The sticky rice finished, the business is finished — the courtesy ends when the feeding does.
hệ thống báo động chống trộm
security alarm; burglar alarm
hệ thống liên lạc nội bộ
intercom system
hệ thống sưởi trung tâm
central heating system
họ nhà tôm lộn cứt lên đầu
The shrimp clan wears its dirt above its head — a house whose disorder sits in plain view; the innards worn as a crown.
họa hổ bất thành
The tiger painting that wouldn't come out — a scheme that died on the easel.
họa hổ họa bì nan họa cốt, tri nhơn tri diện bất tri tâm
Skin and stripes paint easily, bones don't; faces are known easily, hearts not — the inside of tiger and man alike resists the brush.
họa hổ loại cẩu
Painted a tiger, produced a dog — ambition's masterpiece, delivered as farce.
họa khởi ư tiêu tường
Calamity rises inside the screen-wall — the house's ruin is plotted in its own inner rooms.
họa lai thần ám
When calamity arrives, the wits go dark — in the thick of trouble, the mind can't find its own door; blessing's opposite, where luck sharpens thought.