Hết gạo thì cạo thêm khoai
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To make the most of a bad situation
Literally: Out of rice, then scrape more cassava
Examples
Gia đình tôi hết tiền nên phải hết gạo thì cạo thêm khoai.My family has run out of money, so we have to make the most of a bad situation.
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 2026-08-06; pending editor spot-check.
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Common questions
What does “Hết gạo thì cạo thêm khoai” mean?
To make the most of a bad situation Literally: Out of rice, then scrape more cassava
Is “Hết gạo thì cạo thêm khoai” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
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