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"the young perish and the old linger"; an elderly person has/had to suffer the anguish of watching their young loved one die, because they think it should be the other way around
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người đến sau
The one who came after — loving someone who loved before you; second in the door, whole in the heart.
người đời của tạm
People endure, goods are on loan — property is the guest, we are the household.
người đời khác thể là hoa, sớm còn tối mất nở ra lại tàn
A person is a flower — open at morning, gone by dark, blooming only to fade — mortality in one blossom.
ngại giùm
secondhand embarrassment
ngậm bồ hòn làm ngọt
Holding the soap-nut and calling it sweet — swallowing bitterness with a straight face.
ngậm máu phun người, trước dơ miệng mình
Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost.
ngậm đắng nuốt cay
Holding the bitter, swallowing the acrid — grievance eaten daily and in silence.
ngật ngà ngật ngừ
Nodding and drifting — sluggish, decision never quite arriving.
ngậu tôm canh
Empty as a pagoda — silence with room to echo.
ngắm gà khỏa thân
Gazing at the naked chicken — joking euphemism for having died: the boiled offering hen stares back from the altar.
ngọc bất trác bất thành khí, nhơn bất học bất tri lý
Uncut jade is no vessel; untaught people know no principle — polish makes the gem and the person.
ngọc lành ai dễ bán rao
Fine jade is never hawked about — true worth, like true virtue, needs no street-crier.
ngọc thạch cu phần
Stone and jade burn together — war's fire checks no credentials; the good perish mixed with the bad.
ngọn rau tất đất
A sprig of greens, an inch of soil — even the smallest sustenance obliges the eater to its giver.
ngọt mật chết ruồi
You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.
ngọt như đường
Sweet as sugar — sweetness beyond argument.
ngồi buồn nhớ mẹ ta xưa Miệng nhai cơm búng, lưỡi lừa cá xương
Idle and sad, I remember my mother of old — chewing rice soft for me, her tongue sorting out the fish bones — tenderness recalled in its smallest act.
ngồi gốc sung há miệng chực rơi
Sitting under the fig with mouth open, waiting for the drop — providence expected to do the chewing too.
ngồi mát ăn bát vàng
Sitting in the shade, eating from a gold bowl — reward without a bead of sweat.
ngồi thúng cất cạp
Borrow by the đấu-measure, repay by the basket — interest at folk-tale rates.
ngồi thúng khôn bề cất thúng
Sitting in the basket, how to lift the basket — the insider's dilemma; you can't carry what you're part of.
ngủ ngon nha
"Sleep well" — the goodnight of choice, softer than the textbook "chúc ngủ ngon"; last message of a million chats.
ngứa ghẻ đòn ghen
Scabies itch and jealousy's beating — two torments that only worsen with scratching.
ngựa chạy đàng dài
A horse running the long road — instruction galloping past the ears; heard and instantly lost.
ngựa non háu đá
A young horse eager to kick — hot-blooded youth, all spirit and no judgment.
ngựa qua cữa sổ
A horse glimpsed past the window — time at a gallop; the white colt crossing the crack.
ngựa quen đường cũ
to lapse back into one's old ways; to relapse into vice
nhanh như chớp
Quick as lightning — done in a flash.
nhanh như cái cắt
Quick as a shrike's snatch — gone between blink and blink.
nhanh-nhẩu đoảng, thật-thà hư
Brisk but botching, honest but hapless — two virtues, each shipped with its defect.
nhi tôn tự hữu nhi tôn phước
Grandchildren carry their own luck — save yourself the frenzy of enriching descendants; their portion is theirs.
nhiều sãi, không ai đóng cữa chùa
Many monks, and no one shuts the temple gate — everyone's duty is no one's.
nhiều tay vỗ nên bột
Many hands clap the flour into dough — enough people make any task knead itself.
nhiều thóc nhọc xay
More paddy, more milling — every abundance bills you its labor.
nhiễu điều phủ lấy giá gương, người trong một nước phải thương nhau cùng
The red cloth drapes the mirror's stand — people of one country must love one another — the national verse of solidarity.
nhu nhược thắng can cường
The soft outlasts the hard — tongues survive the teeth; yielding is the durable strength.
nhà bao việc
'Busy household!' — the mock-harried shrug of someone with everything and nothing to do.
nhà Bè nước chảy chia hai, ai về Gia Định, đồng Nai thì về
At Nhà Bè the current splits in two: one home to Gia Định, one to Đồng Nai — the southern crossroads of longing.
nhà có Lý Thông
A Lý Thông in the house — trust betrayed by the very person sheltered.
nhà giàu đứt tay cũng bằng ăn mày đổ ruột
A rich man's cut finger equals a beggar's spilled guts — the pampered grieve a scratch like a disemboweling.
nhà giầu tham việc
The rich covet more work — appetite for gain grows with the granary.
nhà mặt phố bố làm to
A house on the high street and a father high up — born holding every advantage worth holding.
nhà nghèo biết con thảo, nước loạn biết tôi ngay
A poor house reveals the devoted child; a realm in chaos, the loyal servant — allegiance is only legible in adversity.
nhà ngói cây mít
An image of settled rural prosperity — a tile-roofed house and jackfruit trees mark a well-established household.
nhà sạch thì mát, bát sạch ngon cơm
it is important to be clean and tidy
nhà vệ sinh ở đâu
The most-needed question in any country: "where is the toilet?" — "nhà vệ sinh" is the polite word; signs may say WC or Toilet.
nhàn cư vi bất thiện
if people have nothing better to do, they will look for trouble
nháo-nhác như gà lạc mẹ
Scattered as chicks that lost the hen — panic in every direction at once.
nhân lão tâm bất lão
The person ages; the heart does not — the calendar stops at the skin.
nhân nghĩa là chúa muôn đời Bạc tiền là khách qua chơi bấy giờ
Humanity and duty reign forever; silver and gold are guests just passing through — the visitor status of money.
nhân nào, quả nấy
Close to the English saying: “You reap what you sow.”.
nhân viên công nghệ thông tin
IT worker; IT staff member
nhân viên khuân hành lý
porter; luggage attendant
nhân vật chính
Main-character status — living (or posing) like the story revolves around you; admiring or ironic depending on who is filming.
nhân định thắng thiên
Man's determination will conquer nature.
nhìn gà hoá cuốc
Mistaking a chicken for a moorhen — muddling two plainly different things; can't tell right from wrong.
nhìn muốn rụng trứng
A look to make your ovaries drop — swooning admiration, anatomically exaggerated.
nhìn xa trông rộng
Seeing far and looking wide — foresight that spots what others haven't yet imagined.
nhăn như khỉ
Grimacing like a monkey — a face folded into complaint.
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