Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Nước chè tàu, giàu cơi thiếc

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Being wealthy but extremely stingy

Literally: Tea water from a Chinese boat, rich in tin containers

Examples

Gia đình anh ấy rất giàu có nhưng sống rất tiết kiệm, nước chè tàu, giàu cơi thiếc.His family is very wealthy but lives very frugally, tea water from a Chinese boat, rich in tin containers.

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 “Nước chè tàu, giàu cơi thiếc” mean?

Being wealthy but extremely stingy Literally: Tea water from a Chinese boat, rich in tin containers

Is “Nước chè tàu, giàu cơi thiếc” formal or informal?

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

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