chơi xuân kẻo hết xuân đi, cái già lóc thóc nó thì theo sau

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

Meaning · English

Enjoy spring before spring is spent — age comes shuffling right behind.

Literally: play in spring lest spring end; hobbling age follows

Examples

Đi chơi đi, chơi xuân kẻo hết xuân đi.Go on, enjoy your spring before it's spent.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

Sources & notes

Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “chơi xuân kẻo hết xuân đi, cái già lóc thóc nó thì theo sau” mean?

Enjoy spring before spring is spent — age comes shuffling right behind. Literally: play in spring lest spring end; hobbling age follows

Is “chơi xuân kẻo hết xuân đi, cái già lóc thóc nó thì theo sau” formal or informal?

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