cầm khỉ một ngày, biết khỉ múa
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Keep a monkey a day and you've seen its dances — proximity teaches character quickly.
Literally: hold a monkey a day, know the monkey's dance
Sources & notes
Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.
Common questions
What does “cầm khỉ một ngày, biết khỉ múa” mean?
Keep a monkey a day and you've seen its dances — proximity teaches character quickly. Literally: hold a monkey a day, know the monkey's dance
Is “cầm khỉ một ngày, biết khỉ múa” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.