Tiếng Việt · Idiom Attested

râu ông nọ cầm bà kia

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

Meaning · English

This gentleman's beard held to that lady's chin — parts of two stories jammed into one; attribution scrambled.

Literally: one man's beard held to another woman's chin

Examples

Râu ông nọ cắm cằm bà kia.That man's beard on this woman's chin — a total mix-up.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

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 “râu ông nọ cầm bà kia” mean?

This gentleman's beard held to that lady's chin — parts of two stories jammed into one; attribution scrambled. Literally: one man's beard held to another woman's chin

Is “râu ông nọ cầm bà kia” formal or informal?

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