cây bên ta, lá bên ngô
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Someone benefits from others' efforts
Literally: tree on our side, leaves on the side of the Ngô
Examples
Anh ấy cây bên ta, lá bên ngô, hưởng lợi mà không làm gìHe benefits from others' efforts without doing anything
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 “cây bên ta, lá bên ngô” mean?
Someone benefits from others' efforts Literally: tree on our side, leaves on the side of the Ngô
Is “cây bên ta, lá bên ngô” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.