sít rịt
Uncannily lucky or unlucky — a “secret”-tier coincidence (from English “secret”).
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All languages English Tiếng Việt
sóng ngã thuyền câu lướt dập
When the wave breaks the fishing boat, others' oars beat it under — misfortune invites the pile-on.
sôi hỏng bỏng không
The sticky rice failed and the puffed rice came to nothing — both attempts, one emptiness.
sôi máu
blood-boiling
sông dài cá lội biệt tăm, phải duyên chồng vợ ngàn năm cũng chờ. Ruộng ai thì nấy đắp bờ, duyên ai nấy gặp đừng chờ uổng công
The long river hides its fish from sight — but a fated match waits a thousand years; bank your own field, meet your own fate.
sông sâu có thể bắc cầu, lòng người nham hiểm biết đâu mà mò
A deep river can be bridged — but who fathoms a treacherous heart — engineering ends at the human interior.
sông sâu nước chảy đá mòn Của kia ăn hết, nghĩa còn ghi xương
Deep rivers flow and stone wears; feasts are eaten and gone, but kindness is carved in the bone.
sông sâu sóng cả
Deep rivers and great waves — perils and hardships that must be crossed.
sĩ vị tri kỉ giả dụng, nữ vị duyệt kỉ giả dung
The able serve those who know them; a woman adorns herself for the one who loves her — recognition is the soil of worth.
sơ cua
A backup or spare — originally a spare part (from French «secours»), now anyone or anything kept in reserve, including the romantic understudy kept warm in case the main relationship stalls.
sơn hào hải vị
choice viands; choice delicacies; luxury gourmet food
sướng chết đi được
So good you could die — the cry for luck too sweet to bear.
sảy cha còn chú
Lose father, uncle remains — the middle link of the kin-shelter chain.
sảy cha còn chú, sảy mẹ bú dì
Lose father, uncle remains; lose mother, nurse at auntie's — the kin-chain that catches the orphan.
sảy chú bú dì
Lose the uncle, nurse at auntie's — the last link in the old chain of family shelter.
sảy mẹ bú dì
Losing mother, nursed by aunt — orphaned into the next-best arms.
sảy mẹ còn cha
Lose mother, father remains — the family's chain of shelter: father, then uncle, then aunt.
sẩm vào cuội ra
The rich eat; the poor endure — the same table, two experiences.
sẩm vớ được gậy
The blind minstrel finds a staff — the needed thing arriving in the neediest hand.
sập nguồn
Powered off like a dead phone — a human shutting down from exhaustion: face-first into bed, unreachable till morning.
sắc
(adjective) sharp (able to cut easily)
sắp tới chưa
"Almost there yet?" — the backseat question; also the standard nudge to a late friend ("sắp tới chưa đó??").
sặc cười
To choke on a laugh — hit so suddenly by something funny that you cough, snort, or spray your drink.
sẽ gầy
Sẽ gầy — punning slang ('will get thin') for same-sex intimacy between men.
sểnh nạ quạ tha
Stray from mother and the crow carries you off — the unwatched small are the taken small.
số cô chẳng giàu thì nghèo Ngày ba mươi Tết thịt treo trong nhà. Số cô có mẹ có cha Mẹ cô đàn bà, cha cô đàn ông. Số cô có vợ có chồng, sinh con đầu lòng, chẳng gái thì trai
Your fate: if not rich then poor; on Tết's eve, meat hangs in the house; you have a mother and father — mother female, father male; a spouse awaits, and your firstborn — girl if not boy — the immortal parody of fortune-tellers.
số giàu tay trắng cũng giàu, số nghèo chín đụn mười trâu cũng nghèo
Fated rich, empty hands still prosper; fated poor, nine barns and ten buffalo still drain away — fortune as the senior partner.
số giàu đem đến dửng dưng, lọ là con mắt tráo trưng mới giàu
Fated rich, wealth ambles up unbidden — bulging eyes were never the way to riches.
số là
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see số, là.
sốc tận óc
Shocked all the way to the brain — news so wild it bypasses the heart and rattles the skull directly.
sống chậm
Slow living — deliberately downshifting to savor what the rush skips; the anti-hustle ideal of the wellness era.
sống chết mặc bay
Live or die, it's your affair — total, shameless abandonment of responsibility.
sống gởi nạc, thác gởi xương
Alive, entrusting the flesh; dead, the bones — the orphan's plea for keeping, cradle to grave.
sống khôn chết thiêng
Wise in life, hallowed in death — a good soul keeps its power past the grave.
sống lâu lên lão làng
Live long enough, become the village elder — seniority as an automatic promotion.
sống mỗi người một nết, chết mỗi người một tật
Alive, each their own quirk; dead, each their own flaw — individuality persists to the grave and past the eulogy.
sống một đồng không hết, chết mười đồng không đủ
Alive, one coin lasts; dead, ten aren't enough — the funeral spends what the life saved.
sống quê cha, ma quê chồng
Live in father's village, haunt the husband's — a woman's addresses, in life and after.
sống thì con chẳng cho ăn Chết thì xôi thịt, làm văn tế trời
Alive, you gave them nothing to eat; dead, you lay out feasts and read odes to heaven — the verse that shames performative mourning.
sống tích cực
To live positively — choosing the optimistic read of things; the motto version of "năng lượng tích cực".
sống vội
To live in a rush — sprinting through days without tasting them; the phrase songs and essays use to diagnose modern hurry.
sống đồng tịch đồng sàng, thác đồng quan đồng quách
One mat and bed in life, one coffin in death — the marriage vow at its most absolute.
sống ở làng, sang ở nước
Live by the village, shine by the nation — belonging local, honor national.
sứa đâu có nhảy khỏi đăng
The jellyfish never jumps the weir — children do not overleap their parents' word.
sức dài vai rộng
Sallow face, lead-grey skin — illness or want written on the complexion.
sự bất quá tam
Nothing goes past three — three tries tells the tale; the customary limit of patience and proof.
sự bất đắt dỉ
A matter past helping — necessity's signature on the unwanted deed.
sự cữu kiến nhơn tâm
Time discloses the heart — only the long acquaintance audits truly.
sự hữu thỉ chung, vật phân bổn mạc
Affairs have beginning and end, things root and branch — order is built into whatever exists.
ta nắm đằng chuôi
We hold the handle end — the safe grip in whatever is about to swing.
ta về ta tắm ao ta, dù trong dù đục, ao nhà vẫn hơn
Home again, I bathe in my own pond — clear or murky, the home pond is still better — belonging over perfection.
tai liền miệng đấy
Ears wired straight to mouth — much said, nothing retained, no one listening.
tai qua nạn khỏi
to get out of danger; to get away unscathed
tai to mặt lớn
having power or influence in society; powerful; influential
tai vách mạch dừng
walls have ears
tai vách, mạch rừng
"What you say may be overheard; used as a warning.".
tam ngu thành hiền
Three fools make a sage — enough dull heads together strike one wise spark.
tam ngôn lưỡng ngữ
Three words and two phrases — the briefest of exchanges.
tam nhơn đồng hành tất hữu ngã sư diên
Three walking together, one is my teacher — company always contains a lesson, counting yourself in.
tam sinh hữu hạnh
The luck of three lifetimes — an honor so great it must have been saved up across incarnations.
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