Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Lấy phấn bôi mặt, ai lấy phấn bôi lưng

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

To help others but not oneself

Literally: Using powder to powder the face, who uses powder to powder the back

Examples

Anh ấy luôn giúp đỡ người khác, nhưng khi mình gặp khó khăn thì không ai giúp, lấy phấn bôi mặt, ai lấy phấn bôi lưngHe always helps others, but when he faces difficulties, no one helps, taking powder to powder the face, who takes powder to powder the back

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 “Lấy phấn bôi mặt, ai lấy phấn bôi lưng” mean?

To help others but not oneself Literally: Using powder to powder the face, who uses powder to powder the back

Is “Lấy phấn bôi mặt, ai lấy phấn bôi lưng” formal or informal?

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

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