ngưu tầm ngưu, mã tầm mã

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 牛尋牛馬尋馬.

The idiom is from Zuo Zhuan (左傳; Tả truyện), where Wu Qi (吳起; Ngô Khởi) during a battle lost his horse and it ran into a herd of wild buffalo. This is a common explanation as to why this idiom has a negative connotation.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ŋiw˧˧ təm˨˩ ŋiw˧˧ maː˦ˀ˥ təm˨˩ maː˦ˀ˥]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ŋɨw˧˧ təm˦˩ ŋɨw˧˧ maː˧˨ təm˦˩ maː˧˨]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ŋɨw˧˧ təm˨˩ ŋɨw˧˧ maː˨˩˦ təm˨˩ maː˨˩˦]

Idiom

ngưu tầm ngưu, mã tầm mã

1. (literal) the water buffalo seeks the water buffalo, the horse seeks the horse.
2. (idiomatic) bad people often find other bad people
3. (idiomatic) to plot something shady