Tiếng Việt · Proverb Attested

đánh rắn không dập đầu

🎙 Say it

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

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Striking the snake without crushing the head — the job left exactly unfinished enough to bite back.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

làm việc không triệt để

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: beat the snake, not smashing the head

Sources & notes

Discovered via Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “đánh rắn không dập đầu” mean?

Striking the snake without crushing the head — the job left exactly unfinished enough to bite back. Literally: beat the snake, not smashing the head

Is “đánh rắn không dập đầu” formal or informal?

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

👁 Views 0 today 0 past 7 days 0 this month 0 all time