Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Thứ nhất thì quản voi già, thứ hai giàu miếng, thứ ba sãi đò

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Someone who is poor at managing their wealth

Literally: First, manage old elephants, second, rich with mouthfuls, third, ferry monks

Examples

Anh ấy thứ nhất thì quản voi già, thứ hai giàu miếng, thứ ba sãi đò, nên chẳng bao giờ giàuHe is poor at managing his wealth, so he is never rich

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 thì quản voi già, thứ hai giàu miếng, thứ ba sãi đò” mean?

Someone who is poor at managing their wealth Literally: First, manage old elephants, second, rich with mouthfuls, third, ferry monks

Is “Thứ nhất thì quản voi già, thứ hai giàu miếng, thứ ba sãi đò” formal or informal?

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

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