mượn đầu heo nấu cháo

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

Meaning · English

Borrowing a pig's head to boil porridge — staging wealth with borrowed props.

Literally: borrow the pig head to cook porridge

Examples

Thuê xe sang đi hỏi vợ, mượn đầu heo nấu cháo.Renting a luxury car to go courting — borrowing the pig's head for the porridge.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

Sources & notes

Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “mượn đầu heo nấu cháo” mean?

Borrowing a pig's head to boil porridge — staging wealth with borrowed props. Literally: borrow the pig head to cook porridge

Is “mượn đầu heo nấu cháo” formal or informal?

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