Tiếng Việt · Proverb Attested

một sâu bỏ cả nồi canh

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

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

One worm spoils the whole soup-pot — a single bad actor sours the lot.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Một yếu tố xấu ảnh hưởng đến toàn bộ

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: one caterpillar dropped ruins the soup

Examples

Con sâu làm rầu nồi canh.One worm grieves the whole pot.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

Sources & notes

Discovered via Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “một sâu bỏ cả nồi canh” mean?

One worm spoils the whole soup-pot — a single bad actor sours the lot. Literally: one caterpillar dropped ruins the soup

Is “một sâu bỏ cả nồi canh” formal or informal?

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

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