Người dưng có ngãi thì đãi người dưng, anh em không ngãi thì đừng anh em

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Treat strangers with kindness if they show respect, but don't claim brotherhood without it

Literally: Strangers have courtesy then treat strangers, brothers without courtesy don't be brothers

Examples

Tôi không thích cách anh ấy cư xử, người dưng có ngãi thì đãi người dưng, anh em không ngãi thì đừng anh emI don't like the way he behaves, treat strangers with kindness if they show respect, but don't claim brotherhood without it

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 “Người dưng có ngãi thì đãi người dưng, anh em không ngãi thì đừng anh em” mean?

Treat strangers with kindness if they show respect, but don't claim brotherhood without it Literally: Strangers have courtesy then treat strangers, brothers without courtesy don't be brothers

Is “Người dưng có ngãi thì đãi người dưng, anh em không ngãi thì đừng anh em” formal or informal?

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

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