Khen ai khéo đúc chuông chì, dạng thì có dạng, đánh thì không kêu
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Praise someone for their skill, but also acknowledge their limitations
Examples
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.
Common questions
What does “Khen ai khéo đúc chuông chì, dạng thì có dạng, đánh thì không kêu” mean?
Praise someone for their skill, but also acknowledge their limitations Literally: Praise someone for casting a tin bell, it has a shape but doesn't ring when struck
Is “Khen ai khéo đúc chuông chì, dạng thì có dạng, đánh thì không kêu” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.