Ốc không mang nổi mình ốc, ốc nào mang được cọc cho rêu
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
One cannot expect others to help if they cannot even help themselves
không giúp được mình thì không thể giúp người khác
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Examples
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 2026-08-09; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Ốc không mang nổi mình ốc, ốc nào mang được cọc cho rêu” mean?
One cannot expect others to help if they cannot even help themselves Literally: Snail cannot carry its own shell, which snail can carry a pole for moss
Is “Ốc không mang nổi mình ốc, ốc nào mang được cọc cho rêu” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.