Thương thay thân phận con rùa
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To sympathize with someone in a difficult situation
Literally: Pity the tortoise's fate
Where it’s used:
Used
Toàn quốc & hải ngoại · Vietnam-wide & diaspora
Examples
Tôi thương thay thân phận con rùa của anh ấy khi nghe tin anh ấy mất việcI sympathize with his situation when I heard he lost his job
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on Vietnamese Wikiquote “Ca dao Việt Nam” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Thương thay thân phận con rùa” mean?
To sympathize with someone in a difficult situation Literally: Pity the tortoise's fate
Is “Thương thay thân phận con rùa” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.