hùm chết để da, người ta chết để tiếng
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Also seen as: trâu chết để da, người chết để tiếng
The tiger dies leaving its skin; a person dies leaving their name — choose which fame survives you.
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 “hùm chết để da, người ta chết để tiếng” mean?
The tiger dies leaving its skin; a person dies leaving their name — choose which fame survives you. Literally: tiger dead leaves hide, person dead leaves reputation
Is “hùm chết để da, người ta chết để tiếng” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.