Khôn ngoan kiếm ăn xứ người, mạt đời thì kiếm ăn quanh

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Be resourceful and adaptable when young, but struggle when old

Literally: Intelligent and wise to make a living in others' land, at the end of life then make a living around

Examples

Khi còn trẻ, anh ấy khôn ngoan kiếm ăn xứ người, nhưng giờ già rồi thì kiếm ăn quanhWhen he was young, he was resourceful and made a living in others' land, but now that he's old, he struggles to make a living around

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 “Khôn ngoan kiếm ăn xứ người, mạt đời thì kiếm ăn quanh” mean?

Be resourceful and adaptable when young, but struggle when old Literally: Intelligent and wise to make a living in others' land, at the end of life then make a living around

Is “Khôn ngoan kiếm ăn xứ người, mạt đời thì kiếm ăn quanh” formal or informal?

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

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