công phu lỡ làng
Definition
- Idiom:
- Wasted effort / effort gone to waste: Describes a situation where significant time, energy, or skill has been invested in a task or project, but it is ultimately left unfinished, abandoned, or fails to achieve its intended result, rendering the effort futile.
Usage Examples
- Idiom:
- Dự án xây dựng bị hủy bỏ, thật là công phu lỡ làng. (The construction project was canceled, all that effort has gone to waste.)
- Cô ấy chuẩn bị bữa tối rất kỹ lưỡng nhưng khách không đến, thành ra công phu lỡ làng. (She prepared the dinner meticulously, but the guests didn't come, so all the effort was for nothing.)
Advanced Usage
- This idiom often carries a tone of regret, disappointment, or frustration over the sunk cost of the unfinished endeavor. It is used to lament the loss of invested labor rather than just the failure of an outcome.
Variants and Related Words
Công cốc (idiom): Effort in vain; labor lost.
- Học cả năm mà thi trượt thì công cốc. (Studying all year but failing the exam means all that work was in vain.)
Đầu voi đuôi chuột (idiom): A promising start but a poor finish; starting grandly but ending poorly.
- Bộ phim đầu voi đuôi chuột, kết thúc thật vội vàng. (The movie started strong but ended poorly, with a very rushed ending.)
Synonyms
- Wasted effort: Labor that yields no result.
- In vain: Without success or a result.
- For nothing: With no purpose or effect.
- Sunk cost: An invested cost that cannot be recovered (economic term, related concept).
Related Idioms
Treo đầu dê, bán thịt chó: To engage in fraud; to advertise one thing but sell another.
- Cửa hàng đó treo đầu dê, bán thịt chó, toàn hàng giả. (That store is fraudulent, selling all fake goods.)
Cỡi ngựa xem hoa: To do something in a superficial, rushed, or careless manner.
- Anh ta đọc báo cáo kiểu cỡi ngựa xem hoa, nên chẳng hiểu gì. (He skimmed the report carelessly, so he didn't understand anything.)