trăng mờ còn tỏ hơn sao Dẫu rằng núi lỡ còn cao hơn đồi
The dimmed moon still outshines the stars; the landslid mountain still stands above the hill — diminished greatness is greatness still.
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trơn như mỡ
Slick as lard — slipperiness, physical or moral.
trước lạ sau quen
Strangers first, friends after — awkward at the first meeting, easy by the third.
trước sau như một
before and after, one and the same
trường sinh bất lão
Long life without aging — the elixir-dream of staying forever young.
trạch đẻ ngọn đa
A loach spawning atop the banyan — something that will never, ever happen.
trảm thảo trừ căn
Cut the grass, remove the root — extermination that leaves a fiber leaves a spring regrowth.
trầm hương kỳ duyên
The strange affinity of aloeswood — wealth breeds ceremony; riches conjure their own rituals.
trầm ngư lạc nhạn
Beauty that sinks fish and drops wild geese — loveliness the animals themselves concede.
trầm thuyền phá phủ
Sink the boats, smash the pots — the general's arithmetic: no retreat, therefore victory.
trần gian còn sót lại con ma nhà họ Hứa
The Hứa family ghost still walks the earth — a wry reminder that an old promise hasn't been forgotten.
trắng như bông
White as cotton — spotless, snowy.
trắng như trứng gà bóc
White as a peeled egg — skin of proverbial fairness.
trẻ cậy cha, già cậy con
Young, lean on father; old, lean on children — the lifecycle of dependence, both directions honored.
trẻ người non dạ
Young in years, green in judgment — the two immaturities that travel together.
trẻ trâu
An immature, attention-seeking person (originally a young teen) who acts loud, reckless, or edgy, especially online.
trẻ vui nhà, già vui chùa
The young enjoy the house, the old the pagoda — each age keeps its own good address.
trị liệu bằng thôi miên
hypnotherapy
trốc tru
A "buffalo head" — Nghệ An–Hà Tĩnh teasing for someone bull-headed: stubborn, thick-skulled, slow to be talked around. Usually affectionate ribbing rather than a real insult.
trống dong cờ mở
Drums rolling, banners open — arrival with the full orchestra.
trống xuôi kèn ngược
Drum beating one way, horn blowing the other — a team pulling in opposite directions.
trồng cây chuối
to plant a banana plant
trộm nghĩ
in my humble opinion
trời che đất chở
all-encompassing; totally inclusive; affecting all things
trời có sương mù hoặc bão
It’s foggy or stormy.
trời không cho hùm có vây
Heaven gives the tiger no wings — mercy in the design; armed ferocity is kept flightless.
trời không chịu đất, đất phải chịu trời
If heaven won't yield, earth must — someone has to bend, or nothing gets settled.
trời mưa rồi
"It's raining" — announcement, resignation, and plan-changer in one; the motorbike nation's least favorite sentence.
trời nắng hoặc nhiều mây
It’s sunny or cloudy.
trời rét buốt
It’s freezing cold.
trời sắp mưa phải không?
Is it going to rain?
trời tru đất diệt
the person in question shall be cursed/damned; the person in question shall suffer
trời đang mưa hoặc có tuyết rơi
It’s raining or snowing.
trời đánh
(phrase) the Heavenly Lord strikes
trời đánh thánh vật
(phrase) the Heavenly Lord strikes, the sages wrestle
trời đánh tránh bữa ăn
even the Heavenly Lord knows better not to strike at mealtime
trời đất quỷ thần ơi
The maximal invocation — calling heaven, earth, demons, and spirits at once; reserved for shocks one deity cannot handle.
trời ơi đất hỡi
Crying out to sky and soil — an exasperated "oh for heaven's sake" with folk-song bones.
trứng chọi với đá
Eggs against stone — a contest entered for the sake of the shattering.
trứng khôn hơn vịt
the egg is smarter than the duck
trứng rồng lại nở ra rồng, liu điu lại nở ra dòng liu điu
Dragon eggs hatch dragons; water-snakes hatch water-snake lines — lineage breeds true.
tu kỉ trị nhân
Perfect yourself to govern others — self-mastery as the root of leadership.
tu nhân tích đức
Cultivate the person, bank the virtue — the soul's compound interest.
tu phải đạo
Practicing the true way — cultivating oneself along the proper path to fruition.
tu tại gia
Practice at home — the lay cultivation that outranks any pilgrimage.
tu đâu cho bằng tu nhà Thờ cha kính mẹ, mới là chân tu
No cloister betters the home altar — honor father and revere mother: that is true practice — piety as the highest monastery.
tuyệt quá!
That’s great!
tuyệt sắc giai nhân
woman of unrivalled beauty
tuyệt đối điện ảnh
High praise for a moment so perfect it belongs on a movie screen — the Vietnamese rendering of the international "Absolute Cinema" meme.
tuần tự nhi tiến
Advancing in due order — moving step by measured step.
tuế bất ngả diên
The years wait for no one — arrow-swift, hare-quick, gone.
tuế hàn tri tòng bá chi tâm
Cold years reveal the pine and cypress — adversity is where the evergreen heart shows.
tuỳ cơ ứng biến
Reading the moment, shifting the move — improvising rightly as the situation turns.
tà thần bất cảm chánh
Crooked spirits dare not touch the upright — rectitude is its own talisman.
tài gia là cha ăn cướp
The claimant is the robber's father — losses always inflate in the filing; the injured party pads the bill.
tài khoản thanh toán hoặc tài khoản tiết kiệm
current/checking account or savings account
tài tán tắc dân tụ, tài tụ tắc dân tán
Wealth scattered gathers the people; wealth hoarded scatters them — a treasury's arithmetic runs backward.
tàn canh gió lạnh
very cold; freezing
tào khan chi thê bât khả hạ đường, bần tiện chi giao mạc khả vong
The wife of your husk-and-bran days is never sent below stairs; the friends of your poverty are never forgotten — loyalty's two unbreakable clauses.
tàu chở khách tuyến cố định
passenger liner
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