Quan cướp thì tha, nha cướp thì bắt

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Official corruption is often tolerated, while petty crime is punished

Literally: official robber releases, house robber catches

Examples

Chính quyền cần xem xét lại cách xử lý quan liêu để tránh quan cướp thì tha, nha cướp thì bắtThe government needs to reconsider how to handle bureaucracy to avoid tolerating official corruption while punishing petty crime

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 “Quan cướp thì tha, nha cướp thì bắt” mean?

Official corruption is often tolerated, while petty crime is punished Literally: official robber releases, house robber catches

Is “Quan cướp thì tha, nha cướp thì bắt” formal or informal?

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

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