Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Đứng thì vỡ nồi, ngồi thì vỡ niêu

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

To be in a difficult or precarious situation

Literally: Standing breaks the pot, sitting breaks the jar

Examples

Anh ấy luôn than thở đứng thì vỡ nồi, ngồi thì vỡ niêu khi nói về công việc mớiHe always complains that he's in a difficult situation when talking about his new job

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 “Đứng thì vỡ nồi, ngồi thì vỡ niêu” mean?

To be in a difficult or precarious situation Literally: Standing breaks the pot, sitting breaks the jar

Is “Đứng thì vỡ nồi, ngồi thì vỡ niêu” formal or informal?

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

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