thành môn thất hỏa, ươn cập trì ngư
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Fire at the city gate scalds the fish in the moat — the bystander boiled by the neighbor's war.
Literally: the wall gate catches fire; harm reaches the pond fish
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 “thành môn thất hỏa, ươn cập trì ngư” mean?
Fire at the city gate scalds the fish in the moat — the bystander boiled by the neighbor's war. Literally: the wall gate catches fire; harm reaches the pond fish
Is “thành môn thất hỏa, ươn cập trì ngư” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.