tư tư bất quyện
Diligent past tiring — application that never slackens.
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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.
tấu hề
Clowning for the crowd — deliberately (or obliviously) turning yourself into the comedy act of the moment.
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
tốt số hơn khôn
A good fate beats a good head — the lucky outrun the clever.
tốt thì khoe xấu thì che
Show the fine, veil the flawed — instinct's own advertising department.
tốt tuổi nằm duổi mà ăn
Born lucky, dine reclining — a good fate does the working while its owner stretches out.
tốt tóc nhọc cột nhà
Good hair tires the house-post — long-haired beauty beating her tresses dry against the pillar.
tổ chảng
Huge, whopping — emphatically oversized.
tổng tài
The domineering CEO archetype from C-drama and web novels — impossibly rich, cold to everyone, soft for exactly one person; used teasingly for bossy boyfriends and alpha posturing.
tội gà vạ vịt
The hen's offense, the duck's fine — punished for a fowl you never touched; blame that lands on the bystander.
tội lây vạ tràn
Guilt spreads, penalty floods — the old collective punishments, drowning the innocent adjacent.
tội nghi di khinh, công nghi di trọng
Doubted guilt weighs light, doubted merit weighs heavy — justice errs toward mercy and reward.
tội qui vu trưởng
Guilt files upward to the senior — the prow errs and the helm is caned; command owns the error.
tội đại ác cực
Crime great and evil extreme — guilt at its terminal grade.
tới công chuyện
“Now it’s on” — trouble (or serious business) has officially arrived; also “going all out”.
tới rồi
"We're here / it's arrived" — arrival in two syllables: the destination, the food, the long-awaited package.
tứ cố vô thân
utterly alone; isolated without family, friends, or support
tứ hải giai huynh đệ
all men are brothers
tứ đại đồng đường
Four generations under one roof — great-grandparents to great-grandchildren in a single household.
tức cảnh sinh tình
art of improvisation, through depicting one's scenery or situation at a fleeting moment
tức nước vỡ bờ
the straw that broke the camel's back
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