tận lương vô kế

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

Meaning · English

Provisions gone, stratagems gone — no purse, no plan; money is the mother of maneuvers.

Literally: rations exhausted, no scheme
Sources & notes

Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “tận lương vô kế” mean?

Provisions gone, stratagems gone — no purse, no plan; money is the mother of maneuvers. Literally: rations exhausted, no scheme

Is “tận lương vô kế” formal or informal?

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