Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Trên sống, dưới khê, tứ bề nát bét

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Everything is going terribly wrong

Literally: Above is river, below is stream, all around is broken

Examples

Công việc trên công ty thì gặp vấn đề, về nhà thì vợ chồng cãi nhau, thật là trên sống, dưới khê, tứ bề nát bétThings are problematic at work and also arguing with spouse at home, it's really like above is river, below is stream, all around is broken

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Headword listed in the vdict.com proverb dictionary index (discovery source; headword only — no source content copied). Entered as candidate 2026-08-05; definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-08; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “Trên sống, dưới khê, tứ bề nát bét” mean?

Everything is going terribly wrong Literally: Above is river, below is stream, all around is broken

Is “Trên sống, dưới khê, tứ bề nát bét” formal or informal?

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

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