Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Mềm thì đào, bở thì đục

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Gentle words can persuade, but harsh ones will provoke resistance

Literally: Soft then dig, loose then chisel

Examples

Anh ấy mềm mỏng khi nói chuyện với bố mẹ, nên được họ đồng ýHe spoke gently to his parents, so they agreed

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 “Mềm thì đào, bở thì đục” mean?

Gentle words can persuade, but harsh ones will provoke resistance Literally: Soft then dig, loose then chisel

Is “Mềm thì đào, bở thì đục” formal or informal?

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

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