thuốc đắng dã tật, lời thật mất lòng
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Also seen as: độc dược khổ khẩu lợi ư bịnh
Bitter medicine cures, honest words offend — the two therapies nobody swallows gladly.
Examples
Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)
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 “thuốc đắng dã tật, lời thật mất lòng” mean?
Bitter medicine cures, honest words offend — the two therapies nobody swallows gladly. Literally: bitter drug heals the ailment; true words lose the heart
Is “thuốc đắng dã tật, lời thật mất lòng” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.