Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

làm đĩ không đủ tiền phấn sáp

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Engaging in a disreputable occupation does not bring sufficient benefits

Literally: doing a prostitute not enough money for powder and ink

Examples

Làm đĩ không đủ tiền phấn sáp, anh ta quyết định đổi nghề.Engaging in a disreputable occupation did not bring him sufficient benefits, he decided to change jobs.

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Discovered via Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “làm đĩ không đủ tiền phấn sáp” mean?

Engaging in a disreputable occupation does not bring sufficient benefits Literally: doing a prostitute not enough money for powder and ink

Is “làm đĩ không đủ tiền phấn sáp” formal or informal?

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