Rice Proverbs and Idioms

How do rice proverbs and idioms reflect Vietnam’s life?

Rice Idioms

Can you guess which noun is the most popular in Vietnamese daily life? You might be surprised, but it’s possibly rice! Yes, rice is not only a staple food, but also a way of life for Vietnamese people. 

They call their meals “bữa cơm” or “rice sessions”, and they eat rice almost every day. If they don’t eat rice, they will eat something related to rice like rice vermicelli, rice papers, rice noodles, or rice cakes. So “meal time” is changed to “rice time” for convenience. When asking someone if they have eaten, you should say “ăn cơm chưa?” (have you had rice?) This makes Vietnamese a very easy language to learn, as long as you love rice. 

Slang terms related to “rice” are not as simple as they sound. For example: when Vietnamese people say they go “kiếm cơm” (look for rice), they do not mean finding a place to eat, but about working hard to earn money. You might wonder, why don’t they say “kiếm tiền” (look for money) instead? Well, that’s because “kiếm tiền” implies they may or may not earn the money; but if they can’t “kiếm cơm”, they will become so poor that they “đến cơm cũng không có mà ăn” (can’t even afford some rice to eat). 

If someone calls you a “cần câu cơm” (a rod for rice), you should be proud, because you are the one who brings home the bacon – or rather, the rice. On the other hand, if someone calls you a “giá áo túi cơm” (coat rack and rice bag), you should be ashamed, because you are a lazy bum who only eats and sleeps. 

But hey, it could be worse. You could be a “no cơm rửng mỡ” (a rice-filled troublemaker), a person who is so annoying and obnoxious that everyone hates you. Finally, someone “cắn hột cơm không vỡ” (bites a grain of rice without breaking it) is so stingy that they cannot bear to consume even a grain of rice.

Rice comes in many “flavors” in Vietnamese idioms. For example: the kind-hearted Tam saved her “cơm vàng cơm bạc” (golden and silver rice) to feed her goby fish. Of course, she was just being poetic, not literal. She wanted to show her fish that her rice was as valuable as gold and silver because it was made with love, not that she had a magical rice cooker that could turn rice into metal. Poor her, her evil stepmother always made her eat “cơm thừa canh cặn” (leftover rice and soup residue).

If someone invites you to “ăn cơm chùa” (eat pagoda’s rice), don’t take it the wrong way. They are not asking you to join them for a spiritual or vegetarian meal at the temple. They are taking you to a place where you can enjoy some yummy food without spending a dime or lifting a finger.  Since pagodas in Vietnam are known for offering free meals, “pagoda’s rice” implies “free meals”.

“Cơm chim” (bird’s rice) is not a fancy dish made with bird meat, but a humble meal given to birds. Birds eat very little, so they only need a few grains of rice. The person who “ăn cướp cơm chim” (rob the bird’s rice) is a petty thief. They don’t literally snatch rice from the birds’ beaks, but they shamelessly take small things from helpless people. 

Soup often goes hand in hand with rice in Vietnamese meals. But sometimes people have a different kind of soup over their rice: “nước mắt chan cơm” (tears over rice). That person is so miserable and furious that she can’t stop crying. At least she is still trying to eat, because if she decides to “bỏ cơm” (give up rice) then it’s serious, she has lost her will to live. If this goes on, one day her family will have to “cúng cơm” (offer rice) – putting dishes on the altar for the person who has gone to the other world. 

You see, “rice” is a very flexible and eloquent word. It can convey various meanings, both good and bad, depending on the idiom and… mood. There are countless idioms related to rice, but I won’t overwhelm you with all of them. Otherwise, someone might accuse me of being “no cơm ấm cật” (full of rice with warm kidneys), which means I’m wasting time on trivial things.

Rice Proverbs

While the idioms of “rice” spice up your life with wit and humor, the proverbs of “rice” bring you down to earth with wisdom and reality.

Rice and fermented food “mắm” are best buddies in Vietnamese meals. Mắm is made of seafood and vegetables that have been fermented and salted. But be careful not to take too much of it, or you’ll end up with either a lot of wasted food, or a lot of thirst. That’s the origin of the phrase “liệu cơm gắp mắm” (match your fermented food with your rice). It means that you should not bite off more than you can chew, or not spend more than you can earn. The English say something similar: “cut your coat according to your cloth”.

Home-made meals are delicious, but they come with a price: you have to do your housework, right? This is the basic logic we learned as a kid. But some people forget that. They like to “ăn cơm nhà vác tù và hàng tổng” (eat rice at home to carry blowing horn outside). No, they don’t literally go around blowing horns in public. They just like to poke their noses into other people’s business instead of minding their own. A similar English proverb is “Charity begins at home”. Or maybe “Mind your own beeswax”.

Sometimes the rice proverb is very humane by giving us a picture that we can relate to and comprehend. For instance, “nhà sạch thì mát, bát sạch ngon cơm” (a clean house is cool, a clean bowl is delicious) Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. A clean house might not be cool if it’s in the middle of a heat wave, and a clean bowl might not be delicious if it’s empty. But overall, this proverb is simple and sensible. It tells us that cleanliness is a virtue.

Girls who are about to tie the knot, or have already done so, are often told: “cơm sôi bớt lửa, chồng giận bớt lời” (boiling rice less fire, angry husband less words). This means that when the rice is boiling, you should lower the heat, and when the husband is angry, you should say less. 

I wonder if this advice still makes sense in modern times when everyone uses an electric cooker, and husbands and wives are equal. Now there is no need to adjust the heat if the rice is boiling. So, if the husband is angry, should the wife shut up or speak up? Modern thinking favors a discussion with clear right and wrong, while the traditional one will wait until both cool down and then resume. Which side are you on? 

How about ending this article not with an idiom or proverb (I know you’ve had enough of them) but with a verse about rice? This verse is not too hard or too easy, just like cooking rice:

“I am just a petty nomad, 

Longing for home at the sound of bubbling rice“

(“Giang Hồ” (Nomad), Pham Huu Quang)

A “petty runner” does small and insignificant tasks; a “petty thief” steals cheap and useless things; and a “petty nomad” is someone who hasn’t traveled far or long. Being on the road means having to eat cold and bland food. So a simple thing like “the sound of bubbling rice” becomes a huge thing: unbearable homesickness. The poet probably missed his home-made food too. Many Vietnamese people relate to this verse and it has become much more famous than its creator. 

Now you know how important “rice” is in Vietnamese culture. It’s not only a source of inspiration but also a treasury of poetry. So next time you feel like saying something deep and poetic, why not give “rice” a chance?

mlefood