tin bạn mất vợ
Trust a friend, lose a wife — the proverb's grimmest audit of misplaced confidence.
Browse all entries 83141
All languages English Tiếng Việt
tin bợm mất bò
Trust the rogue, lose the ox — confidence invested at the predictable address.
tin sái cổ
to take something (usually a fraudulent claim) as a matter of fact without further inspection; to be too credulous
tiu-nghỉu như mèo mất tai
Crestfallen as a cat with a cropped ear — deflation you can see from across the yard.
tiên giác giác hậu giác
The first-awakened wake the later — whoever sees earlier owes the seeing.
tiên học lễ, hậu học văn
learn manners first, then learn literature
tiên lai hậu đáo
First come, then arrived — precedence by order of appearance; the queue as law.
tiên thiên bất túc
Congenitally insufficient — frail from birth; weak in one's very constitution.
tiên vi chủ, hậu vi khách
First the host, then the guest — precedence at the door, deference at the table.
tiên xử kỉ nhi hậu xử bỉ
Judge yourself before judging others — your own case is always first on the docket.
tiếc thay hột gạo trắng ngần, đã vo nước đục, lại vần than rơm
Pity the pearl-white grain of rice — washed in muddy water, then rolled in straw-char — worth spoiled by wrong handling.
tiếc đứt ruột
Regret that tears the gut — remorse with physical symptoms.
tiến thoái lưỡng nan
it's difficult either to advance or to retreat.
tiếng lành đồn xa, tiếng giữ đồn ba ngày đàng
Good news travels far; bad news travels three days' road faster — reputation's two speeds.
tiếng tơ đồng
The voice of silk and bronze — the sound of stringed music; an old name for the zither's song.
tiền chì hai mặt
Two-faced as a lead coin — brazenness stamped on both sides.
tiền gạo thì của mẹ cha, cái nghiên, cái bút thật là của em
Rice and money are mother's and father's; the inkstone and brush are truly mine — the scholar-child's declaration of estate.
tiền hung hậu kiết
Fierce at first, kind at last — the storm that clears into a good ending.
tiền hậu bất nhất
Before and after never matching — a story, or a person, inconsistent with itself.
tiền làng Đọc, thóc làng Nhữ, chữ làng Chằm
Money in Đọc, rice in Nhữ, letters in Chằm — three villages, three forms of wealth.
tiền mất tật mang
wasting money in something potentially devious in hope of a return but only ends up in a worse off state
tiền nào của đó
Close to the English saying: “If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly.”.
tiền nằm lãi chạy
Money lies still, interest runs — capital asleep while its offspring sprint.
tiền phú hậu bần
First rich, later poor — fortunes, like some builds, front-loaded.
tiền quân hiệu lực
Front-line service to redeem a fault — sent ahead into battle to earn back one's name.
tiền rừng bạc bể
Forest of money, sea of silver — wealth in landscape units.
tiền thầy bỏ túi
The master's fee goes straight in the pocket — paid regardless of the cure.
tiền trao cháo múc
rice congee upon payment
tiền trao ra gà bắt lấy
Cash across, chicken in hand — payment and goods exchanged in the same motion, credit extended to no one.
tiền tài nhân nghĩa tận
When money runs out, kindness and duty end — the friendships that were denominated in cash expire with it.
tiền tài như phấn thổ, nhơn ngãi tự thiên kim
Money is powdered earth; decency is a thousand gold — the exchange rate the market never posts.
tiền tấn hậu kế
The front advances, the rear presses on — as old bamboo falls, shoots rise; the column never runs out of people.
tiền ở trong nhà tiền chửa, tiền ra khỏi cửa tiền đẻ
Money kept home is money pregnant; money out the door is money giving birth — capital multiplies only in circulation.
tiểu nhơn đắc chí
The small man got his wish — petty ambition is soonest satisfied, and insufferable after.
tiểu sự bất nhẫn tắc loạn đại mưu
Small things unborne wreck great designs — the grand plan dies of a petty flare.
tiểu thuyền bất kham trọng tải
A small boat can't bear heavy cargo — capacity is a hull; load past it and sink.
tks
Borrowed “thanks” — thank you, keyboard-sized.
to đầu mà dại
Big-headed and still foolish — grown in size, not in sense.
to6
Toxic — a coded respelling of the English word, with the digit 6 standing in for the "-xic" ending; said of poisonous people, relationships, or vibes, partly to slip past content filters.
toàn tâm toàn ý
with all of one's heart; completely dedicated
trai chê vợ như của đổ xuống sông, gái chê chồng của một mà hai
A man jilting his bride loses goods down the river; a bride jilting her groom repays it double — the old betrothal penalty table.
trai khôn tìm vợ chợ đông Gái khôn tìm chồng giữa chốn ba quân
A wise man picks his wife in the crowded market; a wise woman picks her husband amid the ranks of soldiers — choose where character shows.
trai mà chi, gái mà chi Sinh ra có nghĩa có nghì là hơn Sinh con ai nỡ sinh lòng Sinh con ai chẳng vun trồng cho con
What matters boy, what matters girl — a child of duty and gratitude is the better birth — the verse against preferring sons.
trai tài gái sắc
Talented men and beautiful women — the classical matched pair; each sex graded on its old currency.
trang mô tác dạng
Striking poses and arranging appearances — performance in place of substance.
trc
Texting shortcut for “trước” — before / first. “đi trc nha” = heading out first.
tre già măng mọc
when bamboos grow old, young shoots spring up
tre khóc măng
The bamboo weeps for the shoot — a parent burying a child; grief in the wrong order.
tre non dễ uốn
Young bamboo bends easily — training is a property of greenness.
treo đầu dê, bán thịt chó
To advertise one thing but deliver another — deceptive marketing or bait-and-switch.
tri gian bất tố
Knowing the crime and not reporting — concealment convicted as complicity.
tri túc thường túc, chung thân bất nhục
Know sufficiency and be always sufficient — a life unhumiliated to its end.
tri tử mạc nhược phụ
No one knows the child like the father — parenthood is the longest observation.
triêu xan dạ túc
Breakfast at dawn, lodging at dusk — the traveler's steady rhythm of road and rest.
triều tam mộ tứ
Three at dawn and four at dusk — the monkey-keeper's shuffle; the same total, resold as a concession.
trong cái rủi có cái may
every cloud has a silver lining
trong hai phút nữa
... in two minutes.
trong mười lăm phút nữa
... in fifteen minutes.
trong một phút nữa
... in a minute.
trong một tiếng nữa
... in an hour.
Advertisement
Ad space — ads help keep Idiomer free. Premium will remove them.