Làm cốt thì ngáp, làm nghê thì chầu
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Do important work lazily, but show enthusiasm for trivial tasks
Làm việc quan trọng một cách lười biếng, nhưng thể hiện hứng thú với công việc tầm thường
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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 “Làm cốt thì ngáp, làm nghê thì chầu” mean?
Do important work lazily, but show enthusiasm for trivial tasks Literally: Work on bones then yawn, work on puppet then worship
Is “Làm cốt thì ngáp, làm nghê thì chầu” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.