ăn có mời, làm có khiến
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Eat when invited, work when bidden — propriety waits for the summons.
Literally: eating has invitation, working has direction
Examples
Ăn có mời, làm có khiến.Eat on invitation, work on instruction.
Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)
Sources & notes
Discovered via Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.
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Common questions
What does “ăn có mời, làm có khiến” mean?
Eat when invited, work when bidden — propriety waits for the summons. Literally: eating has invitation, working has direction
Is “ăn có mời, làm có khiến” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
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