Nước đổ lá khoai
Literally water poured onto a taro leaf
Means advice or effort that has no effect at all, like water off a duck's back
Example Tôi khuyên mãi mà nó vẫn không nghe, đúng là nước đổ lá khoai.
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are 15 of the most common Vietnamese idioms, each with its literal translation, real meaning, and an example sentence, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Vietnamese idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, Nước đổ lá khoai literally means "water poured onto a taro leaf" but is used to mean advice or effort that has no effect at all, like water off a duck's back. This free tool lists 15 real Vietnamese idioms, each with its literal translation, meaning, and an example sentence.
All 15 Vietnamese idioms, with meanings and examples.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of July 2026.
Nước đổ lá khoai
Literally water poured onto a taro leaf
Means advice or effort that has no effect at all, like water off a duck's back
Example Tôi khuyên mãi mà nó vẫn không nghe, đúng là nước đổ lá khoai.
Được voi đòi tiên
Literally getting the elephant, demanding the fairy
Means never satisfied with what one already has, always wanting more (give an inch, take a mile)
Example Cho nó ở nhờ một tuần giờ nó còn đòi ở luôn, đúng là được voi đòi tiên.
Chó cắn áo rách
Literally a dog bites the torn shirt
Means bad luck keeps piling on someone who is already poor or unfortunate
Example Nhà đã nghèo lại còn bị mất trộm, đúng là chó cắn áo rách.
Một công đôi việc
Literally one effort, two tasks
Means to accomplish two things with a single action, kill two birds with one stone
Example Tiện thể đi làm về ghé chợ luôn, một công đôi việc.
Nước đến chân mới nhảy
Literally the water reaches the feet before one jumps
Means to leave things until the very last minute instead of preparing ahead
Example Lúc nào nó cũng nước đến chân mới nhảy, chẳng chịu chuẩn bị trước.
Đi guốc trong bụng
Literally to walk around in clogs inside someone's belly
Means to know exactly what someone is thinking, to read someone like a book
Example Bạn thân lâu năm nên tôi đi guốc trong bụng nó.
Ăn cháo đá bát
Literally to eat the porridge, then kick the bowl
Means to be ungrateful toward someone who helped you, to bite the hand that feeds you
Example Nó được giúp đỡ bao nhiêu mà giờ quay lưng, đúng là ăn cháo đá bát.
Cá lớn nuốt cá bé
Literally big fish swallow small fish
Means the strong prey on the weak, only the fittest survive
Example Trong kinh doanh, cá lớn nuốt cá bé là chuyện bình thường.
Gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì sáng
Literally near ink you turn black, near a lamp you turn bright
Means a person's character is shaped by the company they keep
Example Cha mẹ hay nhắc con chọn bạn mà chơi vì gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì sáng.
Thùng rỗng kêu to
Literally an empty barrel makes the loudest noise
Means people with the least knowledge or substance often talk the loudest
Example Nó có biết gì đâu mà lúc nào cũng nói to, đúng là thùng rỗng kêu to.
Mất bò mới lo làm chuồng
Literally only after losing the ox does one worry about building the pen
Means to fix a problem only after the damage is already done, shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted
Example Đến khi bị trộm mất xe rồi mới chịu mua khóa, đúng là mất bò mới lo làm chuồng.
Con sâu làm rầu nồi canh
Literally one worm spoils the whole pot of soup
Means one bad person or detail ruins the reputation of the whole group
Example Chỉ vì một nhân viên làm ẩu mà cả phòng bị đánh giá kém, đúng là con sâu làm rầu nồi canh.
Đâm bị thóc, chọc bị gạo
Literally stab the paddy sack, poke the rice sack
Means to deliberately stir up trouble and sow discord between people
Example Đừng nghe lời nó, chuyên đâm bị thóc chọc bị gạo để hai người cãi nhau.
Ếch ngồi đáy giếng
Literally a frog sitting at the bottom of a well
Means someone with a narrow, sheltered view of the world who thinks they know everything
Example Chưa ra khỏi làng mà đã tưởng mình giỏi nhất thiên hạ, đúng là ếch ngồi đáy giếng.
Treo đầu dê, bán thịt chó
Literally hang up a goat's head, sell dog meat
Means false advertising, presenting something as one thing while actually selling something inferior
Example Quảng cáo thì hoành tráng mà hàng nhận được lại kém chất lượng, đúng là treo đầu dê bán thịt chó.
Idioms stick when you see them in context, not on a list. Lingo7 lets you read real Vietnamese books with sentence-aligned translation and native-narrated audio, so you meet idioms in the wild and tap any line you do not get. Save them and review later. Free to start.
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning is fixed by convention, not built from its words. That is why a word-for-word translation fails: Nước đổ lá khoai comes out as "water poured onto a taro leaf", which makes no sense until you know it means advice or effort that has no effect at all, like water off a duck's back.
Learn a few at a time, not a whole list. Pick the ones you keep running into, say them out loud in a real sentence, and you will remember them far longer than by drilling flashcards.
The most reliable way to absorb idioms is to meet them in context, again and again, in things you actually read. Parallel text and audio let you catch an idiom in a real Vietnamese sentence and check what it means without breaking your reading. That is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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Some of the most common Vietnamese idioms are Nước đổ lá khoai, Được voi đòi tiên, Chó cắn áo rách, Một công đôi việc. Each one means something you could not guess from the words alone, which is exactly why learners have to meet them in context. This tool lists 15 of them with their meaning and an example sentence.
In Vietnamese, "Nước đổ lá khoai" translates literally as "water poured onto a taro leaf", but it actually means advice or effort that has no effect at all, like water off a duck's back. You would use it like this: Tôi khuyên mãi mà nó vẫn không nghe, đúng là nước đổ lá khoai.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Nước đổ lá khoai translates literally as "water poured onto a taro leaf", yet it means advice or effort that has no effect at all, like water off a duck's back. Translate word for word and you get nonsense, so idioms have to be learned as whole units.
The fastest way is to meet them in context and reuse them, not to memorize a list. Learn a handful at a time, notice them while reading and listening, and try them in your own sentences. Reading real Vietnamese with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.