Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Cầm vàng mà lội qua sông, vàng trôi không tiếc, tiếc công cầm vàng

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Regret the effort, not the loss

Literally: Holding gold to cross the river, the gold drifts away without regret, regret the effort of holding gold

Examples

Anh ấy đã dành nhiều thời gian để học một kỹ năng mới, nhưng không thể tìm được việc làm, cầm vàng mà lội qua sông, vàng trôi không tiếc, tiếc công cầm vàng.He spent a lot of time learning a new skill, but couldn't find a job, it's a case of holding gold to cross the river, the gold drifts away without regret, regret the effort of holding gold.

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Headword listed in the vdict.com proverb dictionary index (discovery source; headword only — no source content copied). Entered as candidate 2026-08-05; definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-06; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “Cầm vàng mà lội qua sông, vàng trôi không tiếc, tiếc công cầm vàng” mean?

Regret the effort, not the loss Literally: Holding gold to cross the river, the gold drifts away without regret, regret the effort of holding gold

Is “Cầm vàng mà lội qua sông, vàng trôi không tiếc, tiếc công cầm vàng” formal or informal?

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

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