thắng làm vua, thua làm giặc

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Vietnamese

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Literally "win and become the king; lose and become the outlaw". Calque of Chinese 成者為王,敗者為寇成者为王,败者为寇 (thành giả vi vương, bại giả vi khấu) or any of its variants.

Pronunciation

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  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [tʰaŋ˧˦ laːm˨˩ vuə˧˧ tʰuə˧˧ laːm˨˩ zak̚˧˨ʔ]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [tʰaŋ˦˧˥ laːm˦˩ vuə˧˧ tʰuə˧˧ laːm˦˩ jak̚˨˩ʔ]
  • (Saigon) IPA(key): [tʰaŋ˦˥ laːm˨˩ vuə˧˧ tʰuə˧˧ laːm˨˩ jak̚˨˩˨] ~ [tʰaŋ˦˥ laːm˨˩ juə˧˧ tʰuə˧˧ laːm˨˩ jak̚˨˩˨]
  • Phonetic spelling: thắng làm vua thua làm giặc

Idiom

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thắng làm vua, thua làm giặc

  1. might makes right; the winner is always in the right and the loser is always in the wrong.

See also

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