Tiếng Việt · Proverb Attested

ăn trộm quen tay, ngủ ngày quen mắt

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

Meaning · English

Thieving trains the hand as day-sleep trains the eye — practice a vice and it becomes your nature.

Literally: stealing habituates the hand, day-sleeping the eye

Examples

Đừng để trẻ quen thói gian vặt, ăn trộm quen tay ngủ ngày quen mắt.Don't let a child practice petty theft — the hand learns stealing as the eye learns sleep.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

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 trộm quen tay, ngủ ngày quen mắt” mean?

Thieving trains the hand as day-sleep trains the eye — practice a vice and it becomes your nature. Literally: stealing habituates the hand, day-sleeping the eye

Is “ăn trộm quen tay, ngủ ngày quen mắt” formal or informal?

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