mất tiền mua mâm thì đâm cho thủng, mất tiền mua thúng thì đựng cho mòn
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
If you spend money on something, use it until it's completely worn out
Examples
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 “mất tiền mua mâm thì đâm cho thủng, mất tiền mua thúng thì đựng cho mòn” mean?
If you spend money on something, use it until it's completely worn out Literally: lose money to buy a tray then pierce to make it holey, lose money to buy a basket then contain to make it worn
Is “mất tiền mua mâm thì đâm cho thủng, mất tiền mua thúng thì đựng cho mòn” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.