bé bằng củ khoai, cứ vai mà gọi

Vietnamese

Etymology

Literally, "small as a sweet potato, called by his rank". In Vietnam, people are traditionally referred to (including with honorifics like "grandfather" which superficially invoke age) based on their social rank, not their age, so a low-status old man may refer to a high-status child (who is as "small as a sweet potato") as "grandfather".

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɛ˧˦ ʔɓaŋ˨˩ ku˧˩ xwaːj˧˧ kɨ˧˦ vaːj˧˧ maː˨˩ ɣɔj˧˨ʔ]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɛ˨˩˦ ʔɓaŋ˦˩ kʊw˧˨ kʰwaːj˧˧ kɨ˨˩˦ vaːj˧˧ maː˦˩ ɣɔj˨˩ʔ] ~ [ʔɓɛ˨˩˦ ʔɓaŋ˦˩ kʊw˧˨ xwaːj˧˧ kɨ˨˩˦ vaːj˧˧ maː˦˩ ɣɔj˨˩ʔ]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɛ˦˥ ʔɓaŋ˨˩ kʊw˨˩˦ kʰwaːj˧˧ kɨ˦˥ vaːj˧˧ maː˨˩ ɣɔj˨˩˨] ~ [ʔɓɛ˦˥ ʔɓaŋ˨˩ kʊw˨˩˦ xwaːj˧˧ kɨ˦˥ jaːj˧˧ maː˨˩ ɣɔj˨˩˨]
Phonetic spelling: bé bằng củ khoai cứ vai mà gọi

Proverb

bé bằng củ khoai, cứ vai mà gọi

(Even if a person is only a child, he is addressed according to social rank.)