Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Thứ nhất thục bị, thứ nhì quản tượng

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Being second best is sometimes better than being the best

Literally: first cooking pot, second bronze statue

Examples

Anh ấy không phải là người giỏi nhất, nhưng với câu nói thứ nhất thục bị, thứ nhì quản tượng, anh vẫn có thể thành côngHe is not the best, but with the saying 'first cooking pot, second bronze statue', he can still succeed

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 thục bị, thứ nhì quản tượng” mean?

Being second best is sometimes better than being the best Literally: first cooking pot, second bronze statue

Is “Thứ nhất thục bị, thứ nhì quản tượng” formal or informal?

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

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