Tiếng Việt · Proverb Attested

kị hổ nan hạ

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

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Once astride the tiger, dismounting is the danger — some positions permit no graceful exit.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Một khi đã bắt đầu, rất khó dừng lại

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: riding the tiger, hard to get down

Examples

Theo vụ ấy tới đây thì kị hổ nan hạ.This far in, it's the tiger problem — no safe way off its back.

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 “kị hổ nan hạ” mean?

Once astride the tiger, dismounting is the danger — some positions permit no graceful exit. Literally: riding the tiger, hard to get down

Is “kị hổ nan hạ” formal or informal?

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

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