Tiếng Việt · Proverb Attested

tham thì thâm dầm thì đen

🎙 Say it

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

Also seen as: tham thì thâm, nhầm thì thiệt

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Greed cuts deep as soaking dyes dark — the grasping hand comes back stained.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

tham lam gây ra tổn thất sâu sắc

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: greedy: gouged; soaked: blackened

Examples

Ham lãi cao mất cả vốn, tham thì thâm.Chased the high return, lost the principal — greed cuts deep.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

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 “tham thì thâm dầm thì đen” mean?

Greed cuts deep as soaking dyes dark — the grasping hand comes back stained. Literally: greedy: gouged; soaked: blackened

Is “tham thì thâm dầm thì đen” formal or informal?

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

👁 Views 0 today 0 past 7 days 0 this month 0 all time