Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Con đỉa lên, con sên kéo xuống

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

One step forward, one step backward

Literally: leech up, snail down

Examples

Mỗi lần anh ấy cố gắng tiết kiệm, nhưng lại phải chi tiền cho việc sửa chữa nhà, con đỉa lên, con sên kéo xuống.Every time he tries to save, but has to spend money on home repairs, it's one step forward, one step backward.

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 “Con đỉa lên, con sên kéo xuống” mean?

One step forward, one step backward Literally: leech up, snail down

Is “Con đỉa lên, con sên kéo xuống” formal or informal?

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

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