Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

cá mè đè cá chép

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Someone of lower status or power is oppressed by someone of slightly higher status

Literally: mullet fish presses carp fish

Examples

Nhân viên mới bị cá mè đè cá chép nên không dám nói ý kiếnThe new employee was oppressed by his slightly senior colleague, so he didn't dare to express his opinion

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 “cá mè đè cá chép” mean?

Someone of lower status or power is oppressed by someone of slightly higher status Literally: mullet fish presses carp fish

Is “cá mè đè cá chép” formal or informal?

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