biết đâu ma ăn cỗ
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Also seen as: ai biết ma ăn cỗ
Meaning · English
Who's to know which ghost ate the offerings — with no witness, the culprit can never be named.
Literally: who knows the ghost ate the feast
Examples
Tiền quỹ mất mà chẳng ai nhận, biết đâu ma ăn cỗ.The fund is short and no one owns up — who saw which ghost eat the feast?
Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)
Sources & notes
Discovered via Vietnamese Wiktionary, Thể loại:Tục 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 “biết đâu ma ăn cỗ” mean?
Who's to know which ghost ate the offerings — with no witness, the culprit can never be named. Literally: who knows the ghost ate the feast
Is “biết đâu ma ăn cỗ” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.