nhất cự li, nhì tốc độ

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• nhất cự ly, nhì tốc độ

Etymology

nhất (“first”) +‎ cự li (“distance”) +‎ nhì (“second”) +‎ tốc độ (“speed”). Almost a Sino-Vietnamese phrase if it weren't for the non-Sino-Vietnamese nhì, and for the fact that this is a purely Vietnamese coinage. In fact, this pattern of "first", "second", etc., has nothing to do with Sino-Vietnamese-ness, as it occurs in various obviously non-Sino-Vietnamese proverbs, such as nhất nước, nhì phân, tam cần, tứ giống.

Phrase

nhất cự li, nhì tốc độ • (一距離、二速度)

1. (literal) first comes distance/proximity, second comes speed
2. (figurative, usually humorous) if you wanna make a move on someone, get close to them first, then act quickly and swiftly