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Close to the English saying: “A workman is known by his chips.”.
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All languages English Tiếng Việt
xin phép
The polite "with your permission" — announced before leaving a meal, entering a room, or interrupting elders; Vietnamese courtesy in two syllables.
xl
Texting shortcut for “xin lỗi” — sorry.
xong phim
the movie has ended
xong rồi
"Done / finished / all set" — the two syllables that close a meal, a job, a haircut; rising-context "Xong chưa?" asks, "Xong rồi" answers.
xu cà na
Unlucky; doomed-day energy — “xu” from xui (unlucky) plus a fruity flourish.
xui nguyên giục bị
Egging on the plaintiff and goading the defendant — stirring both sides of a quarrel for one's own profit.
xuân bất tái lai
Spring does not come twice — the one green season is the one you're in.
xuất dương hiệu lực
Overseas service to redeem one's name — a fault worked off on a foreign mission.
xuất giá tòng phu
Married, she follows the husband — the middle clause of the old three-followings code.
xuất hồ nhỉ, phản hồ nhỉ
What leaves by your hand returns by your hand — issue and repayment share an address.
xuống hố
synonym of xuống lỗ (“to die”)
xuống thác lên ghềnh
Down the falls, up the rapids — a course of nothing but hard water.
xà lơ
Talking nonsense, wildly off the mark — the viral Southern pronunciation of "sai lơ" (dead wrong), immortalized by the "nói xà lơ" clip.
xàm xí
Silly nonsense talk — the doubled, dismissive form of "xàm": what you call chatter that is both pointless and a little annoying.
xát muối vào vết thương
to add insult to injury
xé tay vá vạt
Tearing the sleeve to patch the hem — poverty's tailoring, robbing one edge for the other.
xôi hỏng bỏng không
The sticky rice failed and the puffed rice came to nothing — every attempt ending empty-handed.
xôi thịt
(figurative, disapproving) a feast-chaser or philistine — someone whose horizons end at the banquet table: greedy for material perks, indifferent to culture or principle. From the sticky rice and meat of village feasts; "chủ nghĩa xôi thịt" (xôi-thịt-ism) names the whole self-serving mindset.
xăng pha nhớt
Petrol cut with engine oil — a jeering label for bisexuality; dated and unkind.
xướng ca vô loài
singers and (more generally) musicians are immoral
xả cận cầu viễn
Discarding the near to chase the far — the treasure at your feet traded for a rumor over the hill.
xả hàng
To dump the goods — unload a position hard and fast, flooding the market; what the big players do the moment the hype peaks.
xả xú páp
Blowing off the exhaust valve — venting steam before the engine bursts.
xảo giả đa lao chuyết nhàn
The deft get the work, the clumsy get the rest — skill is rewarded with more labor.
xất bất xang bang
Knocked every which way — battered about until there's no move left to make.
xấu chữ mà lành nghĩa
Poor script, sound meaning — homely outside, worthy within.
xấu gỗ tốt nước sơn
Poor wood under fine varnish — surface investment where substance is missing.
xấu hay làm tốt, dốt hay nói chữ
The plain love adornment, the ignorant love book-talk — each lack shops loudest for its own cover.
xấu lá xấu nem, xấu em xấu chị
A bad leaf shames the roll; a bad sister shames the elder — flaws are contagious along every bundle and bloodline.
xấu máu đòi ăn của độc
Weak blood craving the rich dish — appetite pointed exactly where it does the most harm.
xấu như ma
Ugly as a ghost — looks that startle.
xấu xa cũng thế chồng ta, dù cho tốt đẹp cũng ra chồng người
Homely as he is, he's my husband — the handsomest man is still somebody else's — fidelity's tart arithmetic.
xấu đều hơn tốt lỏi
Evenly plain beats patchily fine — better all-around modest than brilliant in spots.
xẩy đàn tan nghé
The flock scattered, the calf lost — one breakup and every dependent is adrift.
xập xám chướng
The thirteen banes — the mahjong-hand name repurposed for a full house of vices.
xỉu ngang
Fainting sideways — collapsing theatrically from shock, cuteness, or a price tag; often doubled as "xỉu ngang xỉu dọc" (fainting in every direction).
xỉu up xỉu down
Fainting up AND down — the Vietnamese-English mashup for being repeatedly, comprehensively overwhelmed.
xịn phết
Pretty darn premium — Northern "phết" tempers "xịn" into impressed understatement: better than expected, worth saying so.
xịn sò
Fancy-schmancy — playful upgrade of "xịn" (premium) for anything impressively swanky, from gadgets to wedding setups.
xịt keo
Frozen in place — so stunned you’re hairspray-set where you stand.
xỏ lá ba que
synonym of ba que xỏ lá
y cẩm dạ hành
Brocade worn walking at night — glory paraded where no eye can price it.
y cẩm hồi hương
Returning home in brocade — coming back to one's village crowned with success.
y dã ý dã
Medicine is intention — the physician's charter to adapt, never to practice by rote.
y dạng họa hồ lô
Painting the gourd from the model — imitation tracing the outline it was given.
y năng sát nhơn, dược năng cứu nhơn
Doctors can kill as medicine can save — the drug heaven made, the hand can still misuse.
yang lake
Yang lake — bilingual pun on 'giang hồ' (yang ~ giang, lake ~ hồ): a wannabe gangster, said with a smirk.
ykr
Texting shortcut for “ý kiến riêng” — just my personal opinion (IMO).
yêu ai thì bốc lên giời, ghét ai thì dìm xuống đất
Loved, hoisted to heaven; hated, pressed into the earth — appraisal by affection, calibrated in altitude.
yêu cho đòn, ghét cho ăn
Love gives the rod, hate gives the treats — the old inversion: discipline is care, indulgence is neglect.
yêu hoa vin cành
Loving the flower, grip its branch — affection that takes hold of what holds the beloved.
yêu nhau cau bảy bổ ba, ghét nhau cau sáu bổ ra làm mười
In love, seven arecas split into three; in hate, six split into ten — generosity and spite, measured in betel.
yêu nhau cau sáu bổ ba, ghét nhau cau sáu bổ ra làm mười
In love, a six-slice areca nut is cut in three; in spite, the same nut is cut in ten — affection makes portions generous and grudges make them stingy: how you divide shows how you feel.
yêu nhau chị em gái, rái nhau chị em dâu
Sisters love; sisters-in-law bristle — the same house, two chemistries.
yêu nhau cởi áo trao nhau, về nhà mẹ hỏi, qua cầu gió bay
In love we swapped shirts — home, mother asks: crossing the bridge, the wind took it — the beloved lie of young lovers.
yêu nhau củ ấu cũng tròn, ghét nhau thì củ bồ hòn cũng vuông
In love the spiny caltrop is round; in hate the soap-nut is square — affection redraws geometry itself.
yêu nhau lắm cắn nhau đau
The deeper the love, the sharper the bite — passion keeps teeth.
yêu nhau mấy núi cũng trèo, mấy sông cũng lội, mấy đèo cũng qua
In love, any mountain can be climbed, any river forded, any pass crossed — the anthem of determined lovers.
yêu nhau yêu cả đường đi, ghét nhau ghét cả tông chi họ hàng
Love someone and you love their very road; hate someone and you hate their whole clan — feeling annexes everything adjacent.
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