Năm lại thì chắc như cua, mở ra thì lại được rùa mà thôi
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Something that seems promising at first but turns out to be disappointing
Examples
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Headword listed in the vdict.com proverb dictionary index (discovery source; headword only — no source content copied). Entered as candidate 2026-08-05; definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-07; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Năm lại thì chắc như cua, mở ra thì lại được rùa mà thôi” mean?
Something that seems promising at first but turns out to be disappointing Literally: Five layers tight like a crab, open and get a turtle
Is “Năm lại thì chắc như cua, mở ra thì lại được rùa mà thôi” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.