Có mặt: ông sứ, vắng mặt: thằng Ngô
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
To flatter someone when they are present, but speak ill of them when they are absent
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 2026-08-06; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Có mặt: ông sứ, vắng mặt: thằng Ngô” mean?
To flatter someone when they are present, but speak ill of them when they are absent Literally: Present: Mr. Ambassador, absent: Ngô guy
Is “Có mặt: ông sứ, vắng mặt: thằng Ngô” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.