Tiếng Việt · Proverb Attested

khó mới có mà ăn, ngồi không ai dễ đem phần tới cho

🎙 Say it

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

Only the hard-up have food — no one delivers portions to the idle; want is what gets people working.

Literally: the needy have food; the idle get no delivered share

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 “khó mới có mà ăn, ngồi không ai dễ đem phần tới cho” mean?

Only the hard-up have food — no one delivers portions to the idle; want is what gets people working. Literally: the needy have food; the idle get no delivered share

Is “khó mới có mà ăn, ngồi không ai dễ đem phần tới cho” formal or informal?

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

👁 Views 0 today 0 past 7 days 0 this month 0 all time