quá tam ba bận

== Vietnamese == === Etymology === Literally, "over three times". The use of both Sino-Vietnamese tam (三) and native ba for "three" next to each other is probably a form of emphasis. Compare similar expressions such as Chinese 事不過三 / 事不过三 (sự bất quá tam) and English third time is the charm. === Pronunciation === (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [kwaː˧˦ taːm˧˧ ʔɓaː˧˧ ʔɓən˧˨ʔ] (Huế) IPA(key): [kwaː˨˩˦ taːm˧˧ ʔɓaː˧˧ ʔɓəŋ˨˩ʔ] (Saigon) IPA(key): [waː˦˥ taːm˧˧ ʔɓaː˧˧ ʔɓəŋ˨˩˨] === Phrase === quá tam ba bận (idiomatic) after three attempts, the chance of the success decreases greatly