Tiếng Việt · Saying Candidate

một con ngựa đau, cả tàu bỏ cỏ

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Also seen as: một con ngựa đau cả tàu bỏ cỏ

Sense 1

Meaning · English

when a single horse falls ill, the whole stable stops eating

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

Sources & notes

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

Sense 2

Meaning · English

when one of us falls, it affects all of us

Sense 3

Meaning · English

One member's problem affects the whole group

Literally: one horse hurts, the whole boat leaves fodder

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

Examples

Khi một nhân viên vắng mặt, cả đội phải làm việc thêm giờ để hoàn thành dự án.When one employee is absent, the whole team has to work extra hours to complete the project.

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed on Vietnamese Wikiquote “Thành ngữ Việt Nam” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Topics: Horses Trees & plants

Common questions

What does “một con ngựa đau, cả tàu bỏ cỏ” mean?

when a single horse falls ill, the whole stable stops eating

Is “một con ngựa đau, cả tàu bỏ cỏ” formal or informal?

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