Lấp ván thiên, vùi đất sét
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
To try to cover up a mistake or problem, but end up making it worse
Che giấu sai lầm nhưng kết cục làm cho tồi tệ hơn
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
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 2026-08-07; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Lấp ván thiên, vùi đất sét” mean?
To try to cover up a mistake or problem, but end up making it worse Literally: Covering the sky with planks, burying with clay
Is “Lấp ván thiên, vùi đất sét” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.