Tiếng Việt · Idiom Attested

bỏ thì thương, vương thì tội

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

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Discard it and grieve; keep it and suffer — the dilemma of what can neither stay nor go.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Bỏ đi thì tiếc, giữ lại thì khổ

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: abandoning: pity; retaining: burden

Examples

Bỏ thì thương, vương thì tội.Too dear to drop, too heavy to hold.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

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 is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “bỏ thì thương, vương thì tội” mean?

Discard it and grieve; keep it and suffer — the dilemma of what can neither stay nor go. Literally: abandoning: pity; retaining: burden

Is “bỏ thì thương, vương thì tội” formal or informal?

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

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