Tiếng Việt · Idiom Attested

nước đến chân

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In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

Water at the shins — the deadline arrived before the planning did.

Literally: water reaching the feet

Examples

Nước đến chân mới nhảy.Only jumping when the water hits your feet.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

Sources & notes

Discovered via Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “nước đến chân” mean?

Water at the shins — the deadline arrived before the planning did. Literally: water reaching the feet

Is “nước đến chân” formal or informal?

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

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