Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Vắt chân chữ ngũ, đánh củ khoai lang

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

To work very hard but gain little

Literally: Squeeze the fifth toe, hit the sweet potato tuber

Examples

Sau một ngày vắt chân chữ ngũ, đánh củ khoai lang, anh ấy chỉ kiếm được vài trăm đồng.After a day of working very hard, he only earned a few hundred dong.

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 “Vắt chân chữ ngũ, đánh củ khoai lang” mean?

To work very hard but gain little Literally: Squeeze the fifth toe, hit the sweet potato tuber

Is “Vắt chân chữ ngũ, đánh củ khoai lang” formal or informal?

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

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