Đố ai bắt chạch đằng đuôi
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to do something very difficult or impossible
Literally: to catch a catfish by its tail
Where it’s used:
Used
Toàn quốc & hải ngoại · Vietnam-wide & diaspora
Examples
Anh ấy đố ai bắt chạch đằng đuôi khi nói về việc leo núi ấy.He said it's like catching a catfish by its tail when talking about climbing that mountain.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on Vietnamese Wikiquote “Ca dao Việt Nam” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31); 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 “Đố ai bắt chạch đằng đuôi” mean?
to do something very difficult or impossible Literally: to catch a catfish by its tail
Is “Đố ai bắt chạch đằng đuôi” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.