vắt cổ chày ra nước
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: vắt cổ chầy ra nước
Meaning · English
To try very hard to get something out of nothing
Literally: squeeze water out of a dry bamboo node
Where it’s used:
Used
Toàn quốc & hải ngoại · Vietnam-wide & diaspora
Examples
Anh ấy vắt cổ chày ra nước để hoàn thành dự án đúng hạnHe squeezed water out of a dry bamboo node to finish the project on time
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on Vietnamese Wikiquote “Thành ngữ 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 “vắt cổ chày ra nước” mean?
To try very hard to get something out of nothing Literally: squeeze water out of a dry bamboo node
Is “vắt cổ chày ra nước” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.