nhơn vô tín bất lập
Without trustworthiness, a person cannot stand — credit is the spine of standing.
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nhơn vô viễn lự, tất hữu cận ưu
No far planning, near sorrow — the unprovided future moves in next door.
nhơn vị tài tử, điểu vị thực vong
People die for wealth, birds for food — each species undone by its own appetite.
như cá gặp nước
Perfectly in one’s element; thriving in exactly the right environment.
như dao chém đất
Holding fire up to burn heaven — insolence on a cosmic budget.
như nước đổ lá khoai
like water off a duck's back.
như nước đổ đầu vịt
like water off a duck's back.
như thuyền không lái
Like a boat without a rudder — motion entirely at the current's discretion.
như thủy ích thâm, như hỏa ích nhiệt
Like water deepening, like fire hotter — meddling that raises the flood and stokes the blaze.
như đấm bị bông
Like punching a cotton sack — force absorbed entirely; no reply, no result.
nhược thế cầu hòa
The weak sue for peace — treaties are what the losing side calls surrender.
nhạt như nước ốc
Bland as snail broth — flavor filed under rumor.
nhạt phấn phai hương
Powder faded, perfume flown — beauty past its season.
nhả ngọc phun châu
Spitting pearls and breathing gems — writing so fine each word drops like a jewel.
nhảy cao đá lẹ
High-jumping and quick-kicking — in full stride; talent at its most athletic hour.
nhất bản vạn lợi
One coin of capital, ten thousand of profit — the trader's New-Year blessing for a fat return.
nhất canh trì, nhị canh viên, tam canh điền
first cultivate the pond, second cultivate the garden, third cultivate the paddy
nhất con nhì cháu
First the child, then the grandchild — affection's fixed order of precedence.
nhất cử lưỡng tiện
to kill two birds with one stone
nhất cử nhất động
each and every move; every single action
nhất cự li, nhì tốc độ
first comes distance/proximity, second comes speed
nhất duyên, nhì phận, tam phong-thổ
First the match, second the lot, third the land you live on — fortune's ranked ingredients for a marriage.
nhất dáng nhì da thứ ba là tóc
First the figure, second the skin, third the hair — the folk ranking of beauty's assets.
nhất dáng, nhì da, thứ ba khuôn mặt
first a well-shaped figure, second smooth and clear skin, third a pretty face
nhất gái hơn hai, nhì trai hơn một
A husband who is two years older than the wife, or a wife one year older than the husband, is desirable.
nhất hô bá ứng
One call, a hundred answers — a leader whose word the whole body moves on.
nhất kiến như cựu thức
At first sight, like an old acquaintance — kinship recognized before introduction.
nhất nam viết hữu, thập nữ viết vô
one boy means one, ten girls mean none
nhất ngôn ký xuất, tứ mã nan truy
a word once spoken cannot be taken back; a promise must be kept; a promise is a promise
nhất nhật vi sư, chung thân vi phụ
He who teaches you, even for a day, should be regarded as your father for the rest of your life.
nhất nước, nhì phân, tam cần, tứ giống
in order of priority for successful culture, water, manure/fertilizer, hard work, cultivars
nhất quỉ nhì ma
First devils, second ghosts, third schoolboys — the ranking that crowns students the worst of the three.
nhất sĩ nhì nông, hết gạo chạy dông, nhất nông nhì sĩ
First the scholar, then the farmer — but when the rice runs out and you're running loose: first the farmer, then the scholar — rank revised by the granary.
nhất thả cá, nhì gá bạc
First, fish-trapping; second, hosting the gambling — the two quick fortunes, both wet.
nhất tiếu thiên kim
a beautiful woman's smile is extremely precious
nhất tiễn song điêu
to kill two birds with one stone
nhất trần đời
First in all the mortal world — beyond compare, bar none.
nhất vợ nhì giời
First the wife, then heaven — the henpecked cosmology, ranked honestly.
nhẫn nhứt thì chi khí, miễn bá nhựt chi ưu
Swallow one moment's anger, spare a hundred days' grief — the exchange rate of forbearance.
nhập gia tuỳ tục
when in Rome, do as the Romans do
nhập gia tuỳ tục, nhập giang tuỳ khúc
when in Rome, do as the Romans do
nhập gia tùy tục
Traditional tone placement spelling of nhập gia tuỳ tục.
nhập giang tùy khúc, nhập gia tùy tục
Enter the river by its bends, the house by its customs — adapt to each place's own grain.
nhắm mắt làm liều
Eyes shut, chancing it — commitment by deliberate blindness.
nhặt lá đá ống bơ
overly curious in taking a crack at miscellaneous items, usually with no or little purpose
nhẹ bằng lông quăng không đi, nặng bằng chì quăng xa lắc
Light as a feather yet unthrowable; heavy as lead yet it sails — handling, not weight, decides the task.
nhổ cỏ nhổ cả rễ
Pull the weed, pull the root — if you must destroy, destroy to the last fiber or it grows back.
nhớ ai bổi hổi bồi hồi, như đứng đống lửa như ngồi đống than
Missing someone, restless and turning — like standing in a bonfire, like sitting on coals — longing rendered in embers.
nhờ lụt đẩy rều
Riding the flood to push the driftwood — borrowing one current to move another cargo.
nhời nói bằng đọi máu
A word weighs a bowl of blood — speech can cost exactly that much; weigh it first.
nhời nói là gói vàng
A word is a packet of gold — speech carries bullion weight; spend it carefully.
nhục huyền hổ khẩu
Meat hung at the tiger's mouth — property, or persons, parked in the one place sure to consume them.
nhứt bất tố, nhị bất hưu
First, don't start; second, don't stop — begin nothing, or finish everything.
nhứt chứng phi nhì chứng quả
One witness proves nothing, two prove all — testimony's arithmetic in the old courts.
nhứt có râu nhì bầu bụng
First a beard, then a gourd belly — the physiognomy of prosperity, whiskers before waistline.
nhứt dạ sanh bá kế
One night breeds a hundred schemes — the sleepless heart is a workshop of plots.
nhứt là voi một ngà, nhì là người ta một mắt
Beware the one-tusked elephant and the one-eyed man — folk physiognomy's two flagged dangers.
nhứt nghệ tinh, nhứt thân vinh
One craft mastered, one life honored — a single trade polished to shine carries its owner whole.
nhứt ngôn khả dĩ hưng ban, nhứt ngôn khả dĩ tán ban
One sentence can raise a state, one sentence can ruin it — weigh speech like statecraft.
nhứt nhựt bất kiến, như tam ngoạt hề
One day unseen, three autumns long — absence stretching every hour into a season.