bóng chim tăm cá
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Something as untraceable as a bird's shadow or a fish's ripple — a person or news that has vanished without a trace.
Literally: bird's shadow, fish's bubble
Examples
Từ ngày anh ấy ra nước ngoài, tin tức cứ như bóng chim tăm cá.Since he went abroad, news of him has been bird's-shadow, fish's-ripple — nothing to trace.
Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)
Sources & notes
Discovered via Vietnamese Wiktionary, Thể loại:Thành 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 “bóng chim tăm cá” mean?
Something as untraceable as a bird's shadow or a fish's ripple — a person or news that has vanished without a trace. Literally: bird's shadow, fish's bubble
Is “bóng chim tăm cá” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.