Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Vay thì ha hả, trả thì ngùi ngùi

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Borrowing is easy, but repaying is difficult

Literally: Borrow then laugh, repay then sigh

Examples

Khi vay tiền, anh ta luôn nói vay thì ha hả, trả thì ngùi ngùi.When borrowing money, he always says borrowing is easy, but repaying is difficult.

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 “Vay thì ha hả, trả thì ngùi ngùi” mean?

Borrowing is easy, but repaying is difficult Literally: Borrow then laugh, repay then sigh

Is “Vay thì ha hả, trả thì ngùi ngùi” formal or informal?

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

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