Cây chọn mất lá, cá chọn mất vây
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
One loses something essential when trying to gain something else
Thử giành được điều gì đó thì mất đi điều gì đó thiết yếu
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Examples
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 2026-08-05; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Cây chọn mất lá, cá chọn mất vây” mean?
One loses something essential when trying to gain something else Literally: Tree chooses loses leaf, fish chooses loses fin
Is “Cây chọn mất lá, cá chọn mất vây” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.