Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Thịt treo, mèo nhịn đói

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Something desirable is withheld or unattainable

Literally: hanging meat, cat starves

Examples

Cô ấy thích anh ấy nhưng anh ấy đã có người yêu, thật là thịt treo, mèo nhịn đói.She likes him but he already has a girlfriend, it's really a case of hanging meat, cat starves.

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

Sources & notes

Headword listed in the vdict.com proverb dictionary index (discovery source; headword only — no source content copied). Entered as candidate 2026-08-05; definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-08; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “Thịt treo, mèo nhịn đói” mean?

Something desirable is withheld or unattainable Literally: hanging meat, cat starves

Is “Thịt treo, mèo nhịn đói” formal or informal?

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

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