cố đấm ăn xôi

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Also seen as: chịu đấm ăn xôi · cố đấm ăn sôi

Meaning · English

To make great efforts for little gain

Literally: Punching to eat glutinous rice
Where it’s used: Used Toàn quốc & hải ngoại · Vietnam-wide & diaspora
Sources & notes

Listed on Vietnamese Wikiquote “Tục ngữ Việt Nam” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “cố đấm ăn xôi” mean?

To make great efforts for little gain Literally: Punching to eat glutinous rice

Is “cố đấm ăn xôi” formal or informal?

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