không voi bò làm lớn
No elephant, so the ox stands tallest — rank by default; the throne of the absent.
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không vào hang cọp sao bắt được cọp con
Can't catch a tiger without going into its cave.
không ăn ốc phải đổ vỏ
Never ate the snails, still stuck with the shells — the mess assigned to whoever missed the meal.
khúc đột tỉ tân vô ân trạch, tiêu đầu lan ngạch vi thượng khách
No thanks for moving the firewood from the crooked chimney; the scorched-browed fire-fighter sits as guest of honor — prevention unthanked, rescue feted.
khảng khái vô biên
Boundlessly 'generous' — said through the teeth of a man who counts every đồng.
khẩu thuyết vô bằng
Spoken words are no evidence — testimony evaporates; get it in writing.
khẩu đầu chi giao
A friendship of the mouth's front porch — cordiality that never once steps inside.
khắc cốt ghi tâm
stamped or etched in one's memory; unforgettable
khắc cốt minh tâm
stamped or etched in one's memory; unforgettable
khỏi nói
"Don't even ask / goes without saying" — the answer is so obvious (so good, so bad) that words would waste it.
khỏi rên quên thầy
Groans over, doctor forgotten — health restores amnesia toward its restorer.
khối nghỉ hưu
The retirement bloc — grandparents and retirees cast as a collective «faction», coined as the sparring partner of «khối nghỉ hè», the bloc of grandkids shipped to them every summer.
khổ rứa
A Central sigh of sympathy or complaint — "that's rough" / "poor thing". "Rứa" is Central for "vậy", so this is the regional twin of "khổ vậy".
khổ tận cam lai
When bitterness ends, sweetness comes — suffering exhausted, better days arrive.
kim ngọc dị cầu, danh ô nan thục
Gold and jade are easily sought; a stained name has no ransom — treasure is replaceable, reputation not.
kim vàng ai nỡ uốn câu Người khôn ai nỡ nói nhau nặng lời
Who would bend a gold needle into a fish-hook — who with sense would bend a harsh word against another — worth is too fine for cruel use.
kinh cung chi điểu
The bow-shocked bird — once shot at, forever flinching at anything bent.
kinh thiên động địa
world-shaking; earthshattering
kiên nhẫn là mẹ thành công
patience is mother of success.
kiên quan vi bác bất
Firewood that stays clean in the fire — keeping one's integrity intact amid corruption.
Kiêu ngạo đi trước, bại hoại theo sau. (Kinh Thánh)
Pride comes before the fall. (the Bible) Mr. B.
kiếm củi ba năm thiêu một giờ
Three years gathering firewood, burned in one hour — years of careful saving destroyed by one folly.
kiến bò miệng chén
An ant circling the cup's rim — busy travel, zero progress, no way off.
kiến bất thủ nhi tầm thiên lý
Seen and not seized, then sought a thousand miles — the chance passed up costs the journey after it.
kiến dị tư thiên
Seeing the strange, itching to copy it — imitating every novelty one meets.
kiến hiền tư tề diên, kiến bất hiền nhi nội tự tỉnh
Meet the worthy and measure up; meet the unworthy and audit yourself — every encounter is a mirror.
kiến leo cột sắt chi mòn, vò vò xây ổ sao tròn mà xây
Ants wearing grooves in iron, the mud-wasp rounding her nest — patience and craft where strength is absent.
kiến lợi vong ngãi
Seeing profit, forgetting principle — the eye on the gain and the conscience nowhere.
kiến ngãi bất vi vô dõng dã
To see the right thing and not do it is to lack courage — inaction before duty is its own cowardice.
kiến pháp tri ân
Show the law first, collect the gratitude after — power flexing its rulebook so its mercy earns interest.
kiến tha lâu đầy lỗ
Ants hauling long enough fill the burrow — persistence is accumulation's whole secret.
kiến tài ám nhãn
Gold in sight, eyes go dark — the shine that switches conscience off.
kiết thảo hàm hoàn
Knot the grass, bear the ring — gratitude repaid even from beyond the grave, as the old tale tells.
kiềng ba chân
A trivet's three legs — stability by design; the classic image of firm footing.
kiện củ khoai
A debt from a former life — obligation older than this body.
klq
Texting shortcut for “không liên quan” — unrelated / off-topic (the polite cough before changing the subject).
ky-cóp cho cọp nó ăn
Scrimping and saving for the tiger to eat — a lifetime's hoard served to the predator in one sitting.
kém duyên
Charm-deficient — jokes and comments that land wrong; tactlessness dressed as humor.
kén cá chọn canh
Picky with the fish, choosy with the soup — fastidiousness auditioning every option.
kéo cầy giả nợ
Pulling the plow to pay the debt — labor mortgaged years ahead.
kê minh cẩu đạo
Cock-crow imitators and dog-thieves — the lowly hangers-on whose small tricks save great lords, as in Mengchang's tale.
kì hậu dã bạc, kì bạc dã hậu
Generous where thrift was owed, thrifty where generosity was — kindness distributed by the wrong map.
kì phụ nhương dương, nhi tử chứng chi
The father stole the sheep and the son testified — honesty that breaks a deeper duty; kin owe each other cover.
kình thân tàm thực
The whale swallows, the silkworm nibbles — encroachment by gulp or by inch, both eat you whole.
kín cổng cao tường
Sealed gates and high walls — respectability engineered as architecture.
kín tranh hơn lành gỗ
Tight thatch beats sound timber — better a humble roof that keeps the rain out than fine beams that don't.
kính gửi
The formal letter/email opener — "respectfully addressed to" — mandatory register for officials, professors, and cover letters; never spoken aloud.
kính lão đắc thọ
if you respect the elderly, you'll extend your lifespan
kính nhi viễn chi
to respect yet keep one's distance; to respectfully distance oneself
kíp miệng, chầy chân
Quick of mouth, slow of foot — the tongue sprints where the legs won't follow.
kẹp hàng
Squeezed on the goods — trapped in a losing position you cannot exit without making the loss real; the daily condition of half the forum («kẹp từ đỉnh»).
kẹt xe quá
"Traffic's terrible" — the Sài Gòn excuse that needs no proof; Northern speech says "tắc đường" for the same misery.
Kẻ Sặt đất lề quê thói
Kẻ Sặt — where the land keeps its margins and the village its ways — a town famed for order and custom.
kẻ tham công người tiếc việc
One grudges the effort, the other the interruption — two thrifts colliding over the same task.
kẻ thâm người thù
Deep with some, cold with others — favor rationed by private ledger.
kẻ tung người hứng
One tosses, the other catches — a duet of collusion; patter perfectly rehearsed.
kẻ tám lạng, người nửa cân
Six of one, half a dozen of the other — two rivals so evenly matched there is nothing to choose between them. The scales are rigged into a draw: in the old sixteen-lạng system, tám lạng (eight lạng) IS exactly nửa cân (half a cân).
kẻ đắp chăn bông kẻ lạnh lùng
some have it all while others have nothing
kết cỏ ngậm vành
Knotting grass and holding the ring — a vow to repay deep kindness even from beyond the grave.
kề vai sát cánh
Shoulder to shoulder, wing to wing — standing and working side by side for one goal.
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