Tiếng Việt · Idiom Candidate

rượu mua thì uống, rượu cho thì đừng

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Be cautious with gifts, especially if they come with strings attached

Literally: Bought wine drinks, given wine doesn't

Where it’s used: Used Toàn quốc & hải ngoại · Vietnam-wide & diaspora

Examples

Anh ấy đưa cho tôi một món quà đắt tiền, nhưng tôi nhớ câu rượu mua thì uống, rượu cho thì đừngHe gave me an expensive gift, but I recall the saying 'bought wine drinks, given wine doesn't'

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed on Vietnamese Wikiquote “Thành ngữ Việt Nam” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Topics: Tea & drink

Common questions

What does “rượu mua thì uống, rượu cho thì đừng” mean?

Be cautious with gifts, especially if they come with strings attached Literally: Bought wine drinks, given wine doesn't

Is “rượu mua thì uống, rượu cho thì đừng” formal or informal?

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

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