muốn ăn thì lăn vào bếp
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Also seen as: hay ăn thì lăn vào bếp
Sense 1
if you are hungry, then you ought to cook for yourself, not waiting for others
nếu đói thì tự nấu ăn, không chờ đợi người khác
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Connotation: humorous
Sources & notes
Imported from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); community review pending. source ↗
Sense 2
if you want to have something, take the initiative
Connotation: humorous
Equivalents & related
Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.
Common questions
What does “muốn ăn thì lăn vào bếp” mean?
if you are hungry, then you ought to cook for yourself, not waiting for others
Is “muốn ăn thì lăn vào bếp” 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?
“take the initiative” (English) — near equivalent.