Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Đắt là quế, ế là củi

🎙 Say it

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Something is valued when it's useful, but discarded when it's not

Literally: expensive is cinnamon, unsold is firewood

Examples

Khi còn cần đến anh ta, mọi người đều khen anh ta là đắt là quế, ế là củiWhen they still needed him, people praised him, saying he was valuable, but now that they don't, he's useless

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 2026-08-09; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “Đắt là quế, ế là củi” mean?

Something is valued when it's useful, but discarded when it's not Literally: expensive is cinnamon, unsold is firewood

Is “Đắt là quế, ế là củi” 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