Chả làm thì đói, làm thì chói xương hông
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
If you don't work, you'll starve, but if you do, you'll be exhausted
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 “Chả làm thì đói, làm thì chói xương hông” mean?
If you don't work, you'll starve, but if you do, you'll be exhausted Literally: No work then hungry, work then scorch hip bone
Is “Chả làm thì đói, làm thì chói xương hông” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.