bạc thì dân, bất nhân thì lính
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Cruel people are suited for the military, not public service
Literally: silver to the people, cruel to the soldiers
Examples
Anh ta bạc thì dân, bất nhân thì lính, không phù hợp làm công việc xã hộiHe is kind to the people, but cruel to the soldiers, not suitable for social work
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
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 drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “bạc thì dân, bất nhân thì lính” mean?
Cruel people are suited for the military, not public service Literally: silver to the people, cruel to the soldiers
Is “bạc thì dân, bất nhân thì lính” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.