nước đổ đầu vịt
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: nước xao đầu vịt
Meaning · English
Something is completely useless or ineffective
Literally: water poured on a duck's head
Where it’s used:
Used
Toàn quốc & hải ngoại · Vietnam-wide & diaspora
Examples
Nước đổ đầu vịt.It's like water on a duck's back.
Tatoeba sentence #619166 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)
Sources & notes
Listed on Vietnamese Wikiquote “Thành ngữ Việt Nam” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “nước đổ đầu vịt” mean?
Something is completely useless or ineffective Literally: water poured on a duck's head
Is “nước đổ đầu vịt” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.