Thứ nhất đẻ con trai, thứ hai đỗ ông nghè
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Have a son first, then find a good husband for your daughter
Examples
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 “Thứ nhất đẻ con trai, thứ hai đỗ ông nghè” mean?
Have a son first, then find a good husband for your daughter Literally: First give birth to a boy, second pass the imperial examination
Is “Thứ nhất đẻ con trai, thứ hai đỗ ông nghè” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.