Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Mềm thì nắn, rắn thì buông

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Yield to the flexible and let go of the rigid

Literally: Soft then mold, hard then release

Examples

Khi đối mặt với khó khăn, anh phải mềm thì nắn, rắn thì buông để giải quyết vấn đềWhen facing difficulties, he had to yield to the flexible and let go of the rigid to solve the problem

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 nắn, rắn thì buông” mean?

Yield to the flexible and let go of the rigid Literally: Soft then mold, hard then release

Is “Mềm thì nắn, rắn thì buông” formal or informal?

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

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