cá gỗ

cá +‎ gỗ. Originating from the folktale "Câu chuyện Cá gỗ" ('The Tale of the Wooden Fish'), which talks about a wealthy but miserly person who, not wanting to spend on actual food, hung a wooden fish on the ceiling to deceive his children into thinking they are eating a meal with real fish.^[1]

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kaː˧˦ ɣo˦ˀ˥]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kaː˨˩˦ ɣow˧˨]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kaː˦˥ ɣow˨˩˦]

cá gỗ

1. (literal) wooden fish
2. (figurative, derogatory) stingy; niggardly; miserly