Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Mát nước thối đá

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Good intentions can be ruined by bad execution

Literally: cool water rotten rock

Examples

Anh ấy có ý định giúp đỡ nhưng làm quá tệ, thật mát nước thối đá.He had good intentions to help but did it so poorly, what a case of mát nước thối đá.

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 “Mát nước thối đá” mean?

Good intentions can be ruined by bad execution Literally: cool water rotten rock

Is “Mát nước thối đá” formal or informal?

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

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