Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Nước có khi trong khi đục, người có kẻ tục kẻ thanh

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

People have different moral standards and behaviors

Literally: Water is sometimes clear, sometimes murky, people are sometimes vulgar, sometimes refined

Examples

Con người cũng như nước, nước có khi trong khi đục, người có kẻ tục kẻ thanhPeople are like water, water is sometimes clear, sometimes murky, people are sometimes vulgar, sometimes refined

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 có khi trong khi đục, người có kẻ tục kẻ thanh” mean?

People have different moral standards and behaviors Literally: Water is sometimes clear, sometimes murky, people are sometimes vulgar, sometimes refined

Is “Nước có khi trong khi đục, người có kẻ tục kẻ thanh” formal or informal?

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

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