tốt gỗ hơn tốt nước sơn
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: Tốt gỗ hơn tốt nước sơn
Sense 1
Inner quality is more important than appearance
Sources & notes
Listed on Vietnamese Wikiquote “Tục ngữ Việt Nam” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30); 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.
Sense 2
Vietnamese folk verse (ca dao); English definition pending editorial review.
Sources & notes
Listed on Vietnamese Wikiquote “Ca dao Việt Nam” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31); definition pending editorial review.
Common questions
What does “tốt gỗ hơn tốt nước sơn” mean?
Inner quality is more important than appearance Literally: good wood is better than good paint
Is “tốt gỗ hơn tốt nước sơn” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.