thương cho roi cho vọt, ghét cho ngọt cho bùi
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Also seen as: thương con cho roi cho vọt, ghét con cho ngọt cho bùi
Sense 1
love means whipping, hate means giving sweetness and gentleness
tình yêu có nghĩa là trừng phạt, ghét có nghĩa là ân huệ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Examples
Tatoeba sentence #8990762 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)
Sources & notes
Imported from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); community review pending. source ↗
Sense 2
love means corporal punishment, hate means lenient treatment
tình yêu có nghĩa là trừng phạt thể chất, ghét có nghĩa là đối xử nhân từ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Common questions
What does “thương cho roi cho vọt, ghét cho ngọt cho bùi” mean?
love means whipping, hate means giving sweetness and gentleness
Is “thương cho roi cho vọt, ghét cho ngọt cho bùi” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.