"an cư lạc nghiệp" (to live and work in peace and contentment)
This idiom express one concept that many Vietnamese agree: "If you want to have a properous life, the first thing is that you must have a stable living place." This thinking is reflected by the fact that the first purpose of a young Vietnamese who get involved in active life is to buy a house. Living in a rented house is not considered as good or long time status.
Ăn mày đòi xôi gấc
Beggars ask for balsam flavoured sweet rice
==Beggars can't be choosers
Không thầy đố mày làm nên
(One can not be successful without a teacher)
This idiom expresses important status of teachers. In a Confucianism based society like Vietnam (or Japan, South Korea, China), teachers play important roles and are considered as "father". In Sino-Vietnamese, teacher is intepreted as "Sư phụ"; Sư is teacher, "phụ" is father.
"Một con ngựa đau cả tàu bỏ cỏ"
According to a Viet friend, it means "when one horse is sick, all the horses dont want to eat grass." I think it talks about solidarity. That is something I can realize in Asia, especially in VN. People seem attached to each other and if you are in their family, everybody wants to help others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackbl
Idiomatic Expressions and Slangs from Sài Gòn
======================================
|