ăn mày dĩ vãng

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

To beg from the past — to live off old glories and keep trading on what you once did.

Literally: begging alms of the past
Sources & notes

Discovered via Vietnamese Wiktionary, Thể loại:Thành ngữ tiếng Việt (CC BY-SA 4.0); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “ăn mày dĩ vãng” mean?

To beg from the past — to live off old glories and keep trading on what you once did. Literally: begging alms of the past

Is “ăn mày dĩ vãng” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.