Where does “tay trắng tay đen” come from?

tay trắng tay đen (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese Tây, from Chinese 西, from English West, from Middle English west, from Old English west, from Proto-West Germanic *westr, from Proto-Germanic westrą, from Proto-Germanic westraz.

tay trắng tay đen (Vietnamese): a choosing game similar to rock-paper-scissors, in which each player shows their hand with straight fingers, and palm-up hands ("white hands") beat palm-down hands ("black hands")

Definitions

  1. a choosing game similar to rock-paper-scissors, in which each player shows their hand with straight fingers, and palm-up hands ("white hands") beat palm-down hands ("black hands")

Ancestry of “tay trắng tay đen”, step by step

tay trắng tay đen traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Vietnamese Tây

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1VietnameseTâyAlternative letter-case form of tây
2Chinese西
3EnglishWestAny of various particular regions named for the cardinal direction in which they lie
4Middle Englishwestwest; A location to the south; the south; The...
5Old Englishwestwest
6Proto-West Germanic*westrwestern, westernly
7Proto-Germanicwestrąwest; west, westward
8Proto-Germanicwestrazwest, western
9Proto-Indo-Europeanwek(ʷ)sperosevening
10Proto-Indo-Europeanwe-

via Vietnamese trắng

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesetrắngwhite; pale
2Proto-Vietick-laŋʔwhite
3Proto-Mon-Khmerklaŋʔ

via Vietnamese đen

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnameseđenof the color black; dark; swarthy; unlucky;...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European we-Every word from Proto-Indo-European wek(ʷ)sperosEvery word from Proto-Germanic westraz