Tiếng Việt · Idiom Attested

quan tám cũng ừ, quan tư cũng gật

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

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Eight strings? Yes. Four strings? Nod — assent calibrated to whoever is paying.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Đồng ý dựa trên lợi ích

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: eight quan: agree; four quan: nod

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 “quan tám cũng ừ, quan tư cũng gật” mean?

Eight strings? Yes. Four strings? Nod — assent calibrated to whoever is paying. Literally: eight quan: agree; four quan: nod

Is “quan tám cũng ừ, quan tư cũng gật” formal or informal?

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

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