múa rìu qua mắt thợ

Vietnamese

Etymology

Calque of Chinese 班門弄斧／班门弄斧 (ban môn lộng phủ).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [muə˧˦ ziw˨˩ kwaː˧˧ mat̚˧˦ tʰəː˧˨ʔ]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [muə˨˩˦ ʐiw˦˩ kwaː˧˧ mak̚˦˧˥ tʰəː˨˩ʔ]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [muə˦˥ ɹiw˨˩ waː˧˧ mak̚˦˥ tʰəː˨˩˨]

Verb

múa rìu qua mắt thợ

1. (literal) to show off your axe skills to an axe expert
2. (figurative) to show off your limited knowledge or ability in a field to someone who's an expert at that field