con hư tại mẹ, cháu hư tại bà

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Also seen as: con hư tại mẹ cháu hư tại bà

Sense 1

Meaning · English

it's the mother's fault that her child's spoiled, and it's the grandmother's that her grandchild is

Where it’s used: Used Toàn quốc & hải ngoại · Vietnam-wide & diaspora
Sources & notes

Imported from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); community review pending. source ↗

Sense 2

Meaning · English

A child's misbehavior is often attributed to their mother's, and a grandchild's to their grandmother's, upbringing.

Literally: child spoiled at mother, grandchild spoiled at grandmother
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 “con hư tại mẹ, cháu hư tại bà” mean?

it's the mother's fault that her child's spoiled, and it's the grandmother's that her grandchild is

Is “con hư tại mẹ, cháu hư tại bà” formal or informal?

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