Tiếng Việt · Idiom Attested

mò trăng đáy nước

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In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

to make a hopeless, futile or vain effort at doing something; to ask for the moon

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

làm việc vô ích hoặc cầu nguyện điều không thể

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Toàn quốc & hải ngoại · Vietnam-wide & diaspora

Near-synonym: mò kim đáy bể

Wiktionary example (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sources & notes

Imported from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); community review pending. source ↗

Equivalents & related

What does “mò trăng đáy nước” mean?

to make a hopeless, futile or vain effort at doing something; to ask for the moon

Is “mò trăng đáy nước” formal or informal?

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

What is the closest equivalent?

“ask for the moon” (English) — near equivalent.

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