Tiếng Việt · Proverb Attested

ăn sẻ sẻ đẻ ông voi

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

Meaning · English

Eat like a sparrow, lose like an elephant — the gambler's diet: tiny wins, giant losses.

Literally: eat sparrow-small, birth elephant-large

Sources & notes

Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “ăn sẻ sẻ đẻ ông voi” mean?

Eat like a sparrow, lose like an elephant — the gambler's diet: tiny wins, giant losses. Literally: eat sparrow-small, birth elephant-large

Is “ăn sẻ sẻ đẻ ông voi” formal or informal?

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

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