Quan to thì ông phủ Đình, quan nhỏ thì ông phủ Kiến
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
High-ranking officials are served by many, low-ranking ones are served by few
Quan chức cao cấp được phục vụ bởi nhiều người, quan chức thấp cấp được phục vụ bởi ít người
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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 2026-08-07; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Quan to thì ông phủ Đình, quan nhỏ thì ông phủ Kiến” mean?
High-ranking officials are served by many, low-ranking ones are served by few Literally: Big official then Mr. Prefect Đình, small official then Mr. Prefect Kiến
Is “Quan to thì ông phủ Đình, quan nhỏ thì ông phủ Kiến” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.