hữu lao vô công
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
The toil real, the credit missing — sweat entered in no ledger.
Literally: there is labor, no merit
Examples
Làm hùng hục mà hữu lao vô công.Worked like an ox — all toil, no credit.
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 “hữu lao vô công” mean?
The toil real, the credit missing — sweat entered in no ledger. Literally: there is labor, no merit
Is “hữu lao vô công” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.