xấu múa
Definition
- Idiom:
- To be a poor performer who blames their tools: A critical idiom describing a person who lacks skill or performs poorly at a task, but instead of acknowledging their own inadequacy, they complain about and blame external factors such as their equipment, the environment, or other people.
Usage Examples
- Idiom:
- Đừng có xấu múa chê đất lệch. (Don't be a poor dancer who blames the uneven floor.)
- Anh ta làm hỏng việc rồi đổ lỗi cho dụng cụ. Đúng là xấu múa. (He messed up the job and then blamed the tools. He's truly a poor performer who blames his tools.)
Advanced Usage
- This idiom is often used in its full, proverbial form: "Xấu múa chê đất lệch" (A poor dancer blames the uneven ground). It serves as a complete moral lesson about personal accountability.
Variants and Related Words
- Xấu (adj): bad, ugly, poor in quality.
- Múa (v): to dance, to perform a dance.
Synonyms
- A bad workman blames his tools: The direct English equivalent proverb.
- To lack accountability: To fail to take responsibility for one's own actions.
- To make excuses: To seek to justify or defend one's faults.
Related Idioms
- "Ếch ngồi đáy giếng": A frog sitting at the bottom of a well (implying a narrow, limited worldview).
- "Thùng rỗng kêu to": The empty barrel makes the loudest noise (meaning those who know the least often speak the most).