đứa dại làm, đứa khôn ăn

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

The fool does the making, the clever do the eating — labor and its yield, filed under different names.

Literally: the fool works, the clever eats

Examples

Đứa dại làm đứa khôn ăn, đời vẫn thế.The simple sow and the shrewd harvest — so it goes.

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 dại làm, đứa khôn ăn” mean?

The fool does the making, the clever do the eating — labor and its yield, filed under different names. Literally: the fool works, the clever eats

Is “đứa dại làm, đứa khôn ăn” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.