tránh voi chẳng sợ xấu mặt

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

Yielding to the elephant shames no one's face — stepping aside from the overwhelming is sense, not cowardice.

Literally: avoiding the elephant: no ugly face

Examples

Tránh voi chẳng xấu mặt nào.Sidestepping the elephant shames nobody.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

Sources & notes

Discovered via Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “tránh voi chẳng sợ xấu mặt” mean?

Yielding to the elephant shames no one's face — stepping aside from the overwhelming is sense, not cowardice. Literally: avoiding the elephant: no ugly face

Is “tránh voi chẳng sợ xấu mặt” formal or informal?

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