Tiếng Việt · Idiom Candidate

người ăn thì còn, con ăn thì mất

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

When the parent is alive, the child is provided for, but when the parent dies, the child's support is lost

Literally: People eat, still have, children eat, then lose

Where it’s used: Used Toàn quốc & hải ngoại · Vietnam-wide & diaspora

Examples

Nếu bố mẹ không còn, cuộc sống của con cái sẽ rất khó khăn, người ăn thì còn, con ăn thì mấtIf parents are no longer around, the children's lives will be very difficult, people eat, still have, children eat, then lose

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed on Vietnamese Wikiquote “Thành ngữ Việt Nam” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “người ăn thì còn, con ăn thì mất” mean?

When the parent is alive, the child is provided for, but when the parent dies, the child's support is lost Literally: People eat, still have, children eat, then lose

Is “người ăn thì còn, con ăn thì mất” formal or informal?

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