ninh thọ tử bất ninh thọ nhục
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Rather death than disgrace — the neck outranks the name in no ledger that matters.
Literally: rather receive death than receive shame
Examples
Thà nghỉ việc chứ không gian dối, ninh thọ tử bất ninh thọ nhục.He'd quit before cheating — death sooner than disgrace.
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 “ninh thọ tử bất ninh thọ nhục” mean?
Rather death than disgrace — the neck outranks the name in no ledger that matters. Literally: rather receive death than receive shame
Is “ninh thọ tử bất ninh thọ nhục” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.