Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Đi thì thừa, không đi thì thiếu

🎙 Say it

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Something is only useful when it is not needed

Literally: go then excess, not go then lack

Examples

Con dao cứ mang theo người, đi thì thừa, không đi thì thiếu.I always carry a knife with me, it's useless when I have it, but I need it when I don't

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

Common questions

What does “Đi thì thừa, không đi thì thiếu” mean?

Something is only useful when it is not needed Literally: go then excess, not go then lack

Is “Đi thì thừa, không đi thì thiếu” 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