gấu bự
Big bear — an extra-sized (or extra-beloved) boyfriend/girlfriend; “gấu” is the classic slang for one’s S.O.
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gần chùa gọi bụt bằng anh
to treat somebody, especially a superior, overly casually due to familiarity
gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì sáng
You take on the character of the company you keep — bad company corrupts, good company uplifts.
gần nhà xa ngõ
Near by houses, far by lanes — neighbors the map calls close and the path calls distant.
gần đàng xa ngõ
Near by the road, far by the gate — neighbors in distance, strangers in visits.
gần đất xa trời
to have one foot in the grave; to be dying; to be close to death
gậy bà đập lưng bà
Grandma's own stick lands on grandma's back — the weapon returning to its owner.
gậy ông đập lưng ông
Close to the English saying: “Hoist with his own petard.”.
gắng công mài sắt, chầy ngày nên kim
Grind the iron long enough and it becomes a needle — patience is the whole of the craft.
gắp lửa bỏ tay người
to pass the buck; to weasel out; to slander
gắt như mắm tôm
easily irritable
gọi bụt bằng anh
Calling the Buddha 'big brother' — familiarity at maximum insolence.
gọi đồ ăn, đồ uống
to order food and drinks
gội đầu vấn tóc
Washing the hair and binding it up — the courteous welcome owed to a worthy person.
gởi trấng cho ác
Entrusting eggs to the raven — deposit made straight into the appetite of the keeper.
gỡ rối tơ lòng
Untangling the heart's silk — easing someone's knotted troubles; the agony-aunt's trade.
gừng càng già càng cay
the older a person is, the wiser they are; a person is more and more experienced as they age
gửi trứng cho ác
to hand or entrust one's treasure to a feigning baddie
hai bàn tay trắng
two empty hands
hai gái lấy một chồng
Two women, one husband — an arithmetic no harmony survives.
hai người đàn bà và một con vịt thành cái chợ
women are typically loud, talkative, prone to nagging and gossiping
hai năm rõ mười
Two fives make a plain ten — obvious beyond any need of proof.
hai sương một nắng
Two dews to one sunshine — the farmer's day, out before dawn's dew and back after dusk's.
hai vai gánh nặng hòa hai
Both shoulders loaded even — torn between two duties of equal weight; obliging one betrays the other.
hai đánh một, không chột cũng què
Two against one: if you’re not half-blinded you’ll limp away — outnumbered is beaten; nobody walks whole out of an unfair fight.
ham ăn mắc bẩy
Greed at the bait springs the trap — the mouth leads the whole body into the snare.
hay chữ chẳng bằng hay giữ
Book-clever is less than conduct-clever — learning unpracticed is knowing the twig-ends only.
hay phết
Northern understatement for "actually pretty good" — "phết" softens the praise into a pleasantly surprised nod.
hay xoay vào lòng
Warming the cold bed, fanning the hot — filial care calibrated to every season; the classic duty from the primers.
hay ăn lăn vào bếp
Love eating? Roll toward the kitchen — appetite owes labor.
hiến mi cầu vinh
Selling one's eyebrows for advancement — the flatterer's trade of bending everything to please upward.
hiếu thuận hoàn sanh hiếu thuận tử, ngỗ nghịch hoàn sanh ngỗ nghịch nhi
The filial beget the filial; the defiant beget the defiant — households harvest their own temperament.
hiểm địa
dangerous place that is difficult to access and full of obstacles
hiểu rồi
"Understood" — the learning checkpoint; say it only when true, because the follow-up question will find you.
hiện đại nhưng không hại điện
Modern but not power-hungry — a joke on the lái pair "hiện đại" (modern) ↔ "hại điện" (harms electricity), used of gadgets and of anything fashionably high-tech.
hoa cười ngọc thốt
Flower-smiles and jade-speech — a beauty whose smile blooms and whose words drop like gems.
hoa thanh quế
A Thanh Hóa native — nói lái wordplay: «hoa thanh quế» reshuffles into «quê Thanh Hóa» (“from Thanh Hóa”). Used teasingly, and sometimes with a discriminatory edge the speaker should own.
hoa thơm ai chẳng muốn đeo, người khôn ai nỡ cứ theo nặng lời
A fragrant flower everyone would wear; a wise person no one burdens with harsh words — worth draws gentleness.
hom tranh bẻ hai
The thatch-lath snapped in two — division exactly even, grudge-proof.
hoàng thiên bất phụ hảo tâm nhơn
High heaven never betrays a good heart — do good, and good finds its way back.
hoạ vô đan chí, phúc bất trùng lai
Misfortune never calls once; good luck never calls twice — the traffic laws of fortune.
hoạ vô đon chí
Close to the English saying: “Misery loves company.”.
hoạ vô đơn chí
misfortunes never come singly; it never rains but it pours
hoạch tội vu thiên vô sở đảo dã
Sin against heaven and there is nowhere to pray — some wrongs cancel their own appeal.
hoạn bất tài, hà hoạn vô dụng
Fear lacking talent, never lacking employment — the able are never left on the shelf for long.
hoạn đắc hoạn thất
Fretting to gain, fretting to keep — a life spent clenched around having.
hoạnh tài bất phú
Windfall wealth enriches no one — money that arrives sideways leaves the same way.
hung trung vô vật
Nothing in the chest — a heart carrying no designs, wishing no one well or ill.
huynh đẹ như thủ túc
Brothers are limbs — clothes tear and mend, but a severed arm has no seamstress; spouses are garments, siblings are flesh.
huyện mãn nha môm không mãn
Magistrates rotate; the yamen stays — officials come and go, the clerks and their habits are forever.
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.
hài vl
Comment-section shorthand for "ridiculously funny" — "vl" is a vulgar abbreviation working as a pure intensifier.
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.
Hàn Xẻng
(proper noun, internet slang, mock-offensive) South Korea — forum nickname punning Hàn (Korea) with "xẻng" (shovel); banter that can tip into jeering in fan-war threads.
hàng auth
The genuine article — brand-made, brand-distributed goods, as opposed to any grade of replica; short for "hàng authentic".
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