Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Mẹ ngoảnh đi, con dại; mẹ ngoảnh lại, con khôn

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

A child's behavior changes depending on parental attention

Literally: Mother turns away, child is foolish; mother turns back, child is wise

Examples

Bà mẹ luôn nhắc nhở con rằng mẹ ngoảnh đi, con dại; mẹ ngoảnh lại, con khônThe mother always reminds her child that when she's not paying attention, the child misbehaves, but when she is, the child behaves

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 “Mẹ ngoảnh đi, con dại; mẹ ngoảnh lại, con khôn” mean?

A child's behavior changes depending on parental attention Literally: Mother turns away, child is foolish; mother turns back, child is wise

Is “Mẹ ngoảnh đi, con dại; mẹ ngoảnh lại, con khôn” formal or informal?

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

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