Động bể đông, bắc nồi rang thóc; động bể bắc, đổ thóc ra phơi.
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
When one place is in trouble, another place takes advantage
Examples
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 “Động bể đông, bắc nồi rang thóc; động bể bắc, đổ thóc ra phơi.” mean?
When one place is in trouble, another place takes advantage Literally: Agitate the eastern sea, boil a pot of rice in the north; agitate the northern sea, pour the rice out to dry
Is “Động bể đông, bắc nồi rang thóc; động bể bắc, đổ thóc ra phơi.” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.