đứa ăn mắm đứa khát nước
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Also seen as: kẻ ăn mắm, người khát nước
One eats the fish-paste, another gets the thirst — the pleasure booked to one account, the bill to another.
Examples
Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)
Sources & notes
Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.
Common questions
What does “đứa ăn mắm đứa khát nước” mean?
One eats the fish-paste, another gets the thirst — the pleasure booked to one account, the bill to another. Literally: one eats mắm, another thirsts
Is “đứa ăn mắm đứa khát nước” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.