tôi tớ đồng tiền
Money's own servant — waged, worked, and owned by the coin.
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tôi đang học đại học
I’m in university.
tôi đang đi du lịch
I’m traveling; I’m on vacation.
tôi đã ly hôn
I’m divorced.
tôi đói
I’m hungry — the everyday way to say you need food.
tôm càng lột vỏ bỏ đuôi, giã gạo cho trắng mà nuôi mẹ già
Shell the prawn and trim the tail, pound the rice white — to feed an aging mother — devotion in kitchen verbs.
tôn lão ái ấu
Honor the old, cherish the young — respect flowing both directions of age.
tôn sư trọng đạo
Honor the master, weigh the way — reverence for teachers and the learning they hand down.
tù tì tú tí
Sneaking at rock-paper-scissors — doing something shady under the table.
tùng cúc trúc mai
the Trees of the Four Seasons, as depicted on paintings
tùng nhứt nhi chung
Following one to the end — the old widow's code: one husband, living or dead.
tùng thiện như đăng, tùng ác như băng
Following good is a climb, following evil a landslide — virtue is uphill work; vice travels by gravity.
tùy châu đạn tước
Shooting sparrows with the Sui pearl — spending a treasure to bag a trifle.
túi đựng đồ thay tã
changing bag
túng ngư nhập hải, phóng hổ qui sơn
Loosing the fish to the sea, the tiger to the mountain — an enemy released is a campaign rescheduled.
túng thì tính
Hard-pressed, one contrives — necessity does the inventing.
Tăng Sâm giết người
Tăng Sâm killed a man — repeat a slander often enough and even a mother doubts her son.
tư duy tập đếm
Counting-drill thinking — plodding, formula-bound reasoning with no spark of its own.
tư thế nằm nghiêng an toàn
recovery position
tư tư bất quyện
Diligent past tiring — application that never slackens.
Tư Tưởng Lớn Gặp Nhau
Great minds think alike.
tương kiến hận vãn
Sorry only that we met so late — friendship's fondest complaint.
tương thân tương ái
to be altruistic and charitable to each other, especially in times of crisis or disaster
tương truyền
it is said that; legend/tradition/folklore has it that; according to legend
tại gia tùng phụ, xuất giá tùng phu
At home, follow father; married, follow husband — two clauses of the old three-followings code.
tạo vật vô tình
Creation is impartial — heaven makes and unmakes with no favorites, indifferent as weather.
tả phù hữu bật
Aided on the left, braced on the right — flanked by capable helpers on every side.
tả xung hữu đột
Striking left and breaking right — battling one's way through on every side.
tấc đất tấc vàng
an inch of land is worth an inch of gold; land is precious
tấn thối lưỡng nan
Hard forward, hard back — wedged where neither advance nor retreat will serve.
tầm gửi lấn ngành
A dog-flea dancing on the wick — antics tiny, stage tinier.
tầm hoa vấn liễu
Hunting flowers and courting willows — the flirt's rounds among the blooms.
tầm sư học đạo
one must seek out a good teacher to learn the true way of life
tầng lai thân giả sơ
Visit too often and the close grow distant — familiarity spends the very affection it feeds on.
tẩu hỏa nhập ma
Fire runs to the head and the demon enters — kung-fu overtraining madness; burnout by obsession.
tẩu mã khán hoa
Viewing flowers at a gallop — the Sino-Vietnamese original of skimming past what deserved study.
tẩu vi thượng sách
when in a pinch, the best course of action is to flee
tận lương vô kế
Provisions gone, stratagems gone — no purse, no plan; money is the mother of maneuvers.
tận nhơn lực phương tri thiên mạng
Spend all human strength, then learn heaven's decree — effort first, and fate only after the last ounce.
tận tâm kiệt lực
Whole heart, spent strength — effort emptied to the last measure.
tận tâm sở sự
Whole heart to the task at hand — duty done at full sincerity or not at all.
tận tín thư, bất như vô thư
Trust books entirely and you'd be better off bookless — read critically or not at all.
tập dử tánh thành
Habit hardens into nature — practice long enough and the practice is you.
tật sau lưng
The flaw rides behind your back — everyone carries two sacks: others' faults in front, their own behind.
tắm khi nào vuốt mặt khi ấy
Wiping the face only while bathing — courtesy performed exactly when convenient, gratitude on the same schedule.
tị khanh lạc tỉnh
Dodge the pit, drop into the well — escape one trap by way of the next.
tị thật kích hư
Avoid the solid, strike the hollow — attack where the enemy isn't.
tị thật tựu hư
Shunning strength to work the weakness — pressure applied where resistance is thinnest.
tị trọng tựu khinh
Taking the light and leaving the heavy — duty triaged by personal convenience.
tọa hưởng kì thành
Sitting down to enjoy the finished thing — arriving at the banquet after others built the kitchen.
tọa sơn quan hổ đấu
Sitting on the mountain to watch the tigers fight — letting rivals maul each other, then collecting.
tọa thực sơn băng
Sit idle and eat, and a mountain erodes — no fortune outlasts a workless appetite.
tốc hành cấp tốc
Express and double-quick — at absolute top speed.
tối lửa tắt đèn
When the fire dims and the lamp goes out — the neighborly hour of need; who comes then is kin.
tối như hũ nút
Dark as a stoppered jar — pitch black; or thick-skulled beyond teaching.
tối đâu là nhà, ngã đâu là giường
Dark falls — that's home; where you stumble — that's the bed — the drifter's whole real estate.
tống cựu nghinh tân
Seeing off the old, welcoming the new — the year-end rite of letting go and greeting what comes.
tốt danh hơn lành áo
A good name beats a good coat — wear reputation before broadcloth.
tốt gỗ hơn tốt nước sơn, xấu người đẹp nết, còn hơn đẹp người
Sound timber beats fine varnish; a plain face with good character beats beauty — the standard verse of substance over surface.
tốt khoe xấu che
people tend to show what's good about themselves and hide what's bad