Lành làm gáo, vỡ làm môi, lôi thôi làm thìa

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Everyone has their own use, even if they are imperfect or flawed

Literally: Good for spoon, broken for lips, messy for chopsticks

Examples

Người ta nói lòng tốt của anh ấy là lành làm gáo, vỡ làm môi, lôi thôi làm thìaPeople say his kindness is useful in many ways, even if it's imperfect

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 “Lành làm gáo, vỡ làm môi, lôi thôi làm thìa” mean?

Everyone has their own use, even if they are imperfect or flawed Literally: Good for spoon, broken for lips, messy for chopsticks

Is “Lành làm gáo, vỡ làm môi, lôi thôi làm thìa” formal or informal?

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

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