Tiếng Việt · Idiom Attested

câm như hến

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

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Mute as a mussel — clamped shut past all prying.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Im lặng như sò, không nói chuyện, kín miệng

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: dumb as a clam

Examples

Hỏi gì nó cũng câm như hến.Whatever you ask, he's shut like a mussel.

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 “câm như hến” mean?

Mute as a mussel — clamped shut past all prying. Literally: dumb as a clam

Is “câm như hến” formal or informal?

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

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