Thân em như trái bần trôi

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

helpless and at the mercy of others

Literally: my body is like a drifting banyan fruit
Where it’s used: Used Toàn quốc & hải ngoại · Vietnam-wide & diaspora

Examples

Thân em như trái bần trôi, không nơi nương tựa.I'm helpless and at the mercy of others, with no one to rely on.

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

Sources & notes

Listed on Vietnamese Wikiquote “Ca dao 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.

Common questions

What does “Thân em như trái bần trôi” mean?

helpless and at the mercy of others Literally: my body is like a drifting banyan fruit

Is “Thân em như trái bần trôi” formal or informal?

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