bé bằng củ khoai, cứ vai mà gọi
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Kinship terms follow family rank, not age — even a tiny child is addressed by their place in the family hierarchy.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
xếp hạng trong gia đình theo thứ tự, không theo tuổi
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: Small as a sweet potato, still addressed by rank.
How to use it
✓ Use it when
Explaining Vietnamese kinship address — why an infant can be your “chú” or “cô”.
Where it’s used:
Used
Toàn quốc & hải ngoại · Vietnam-wide & diaspora
Sources & notes
Definition adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30).
Common questions
What does “bé bằng củ khoai, cứ vai mà gọi” mean?
Kinship terms follow family rank, not age — even a tiny child is addressed by their place in the family hierarchy. Literally: Small as a sweet potato, still addressed by rank.
Is “bé bằng củ khoai, cứ vai mà gọi” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.