múa rìu mắt thợ

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

Meaning · English

Swinging an axe before the carpenter's eye — expertise performed at the expert.

Literally: flourish the hatchet at the joiner's eye

Examples

Trước chuyên gia mà thuyết trình, múa rìu mắt thợ.Lecturing the expert — axe-play before the carpenter.

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 “múa rìu mắt thợ” mean?

Swinging an axe before the carpenter's eye — expertise performed at the expert. Literally: flourish the hatchet at the joiner's eye

Is “múa rìu mắt thợ” formal or informal?

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