giật đầu cá, vá đầu tôm
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Snatching from the fish's head to patch the shrimp's — repairs funded by adjacent shortages.
Literally: yank the fish head to patch the shrimp head
Sources & notes
Discovered via Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.
Common questions
What does “giật đầu cá, vá đầu tôm” mean?
Snatching from the fish's head to patch the shrimp's — repairs funded by adjacent shortages. Literally: yank the fish head to patch the shrimp head
Is “giật đầu cá, vá đầu tôm” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.