Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Khéo làm chị, vụng làm em

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Being skillful in dealing with superiors, but awkward with inferiors

Literally: Skilled in doing elder sister, clumsy in doing younger sister

Examples

Anh ta khéo làm chị, vụng làm em nên không được đồng nghiệp yêu quýHe is skilled in dealing with his superiors, but clumsy with his subordinates, so he is not liked by his colleagues

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 “Khéo làm chị, vụng làm em” mean?

Being skillful in dealing with superiors, but awkward with inferiors Literally: Skilled in doing elder sister, clumsy in doing younger sister

Is “Khéo làm chị, vụng làm em” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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