ngồi thúng cất thúng
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To be in a precarious or unstable situation
Literally: sitting in a bucket, holding a bucket
Examples
Anh ấy đang ngồi thúng cất thúng vì công việc và tài chính không ổn địnhHe is in a precarious situation because his job and finances are unstable
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
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 drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “ngồi thúng cất thúng” mean?
To be in a precarious or unstable situation Literally: sitting in a bucket, holding a bucket
Is “ngồi thúng cất thúng” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.