Learn some common Korean idioms
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are some common Korean idioms? |
| Kyejin: And how are they used? |
| Michael: At KoreanClass101.com, we hear these questions often. In the following situation: Karen Morris hears an idiom she's not familiar with. She asks Da-yeon Bak: |
| "What does "it is dark under the lantern" mean?" |
| Karen Morris: ‘등잔 밑이 어둡다'는 무슨 뜻이에요? (‘Deungjan michi eodupda'neun museun tteusieyo?) |
| Dialogue |
| Karen Morris: ‘등잔 밑이 어둡다'는 무슨 뜻이에요? (‘Deungjan michi eodupda'neun museun tteusieyo?) |
| Da-yeon Bak: 바로 앞에서 일어나는 일을 전혀 모른다는 뜻이에요. (Baro apeseo ireonaneun ireul jeonhyeo moreunda'neun tteusieyo.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Karen Morris: 등잔 밑이 어둡다'는 무슨 뜻이에요? (Deungjan michi eodupda'neun museun tteusieyo?) |
| Michael: "What does "it is dark under the lantern" mean?" |
| Da-yeon Bak: 바로 앞에서 일어나는 일을 전혀 모른다는 뜻이에요. |
| Michael: "It means that you do not know what goes on right under your nose." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Idioms are common phrases that mean something different from their literal meaning. They are used to give an emphasis on a message a speaker is trying to convey. One very common idiom in English would be “once in a blue moon,” which refers to an event that happens very infrequently. Any person can easily understand an idiom that’s common in their native language. For a foreign speaker, however, understanding an idiom can be quite difficult. In this lesson, we’re all going to learn about Korean idioms, or |
| Kyejin: 숙어 (sug-eo) |
| Michael: old sayings |
| Kyejin: 속담 (sok-dam) |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: To make things clear, let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Karen Morris says "What does "it is dark under the lantern" mean?" |
| Kyejin as Karen Morris: ‘등잔 밑이 어둡다'는 무슨 뜻이에요? (‘Deungjan michi eodupda'neun museun tteusieyo?) |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Da-yeon Bak says "It means that you do not know what goes on right under your nose?" |
| Kyejin as Da-yeon Bak: 바로 앞에서 일어나는 일을 전혀 모른다는 뜻이에요. (Baro apeseo ireonaneun ireul jeonhyeo moreunda'neun tteusieyo.) |
| Michael: In this popular Korean idiom or old saying, the word used for “lantern” is |
| Kyejin: 등잔 (deungjan) |
| Michael: which literally means “oil lamp.” Just like in many Asian countries, oil lamps were a popular choice when it came to providing light in a period when electricity was not yet available. The idiom “it is dark under the lamp” refers to how some people would neglect something obvious or closest to them. It’s a kind of warning about paying attention to matters close to oneself, particularly if the act of neglect may cause harm to self or others. It’s somewhat related to the English idiom “right under your nose,” |
| Kyejin: 코 바로 아래 (ko baro arae) |
| Michael: When someone says, |
| Kyejin: 등잔 밑이 어둡다. (Deungjan michi eodupda.) |
| Michael: Take it as them telling you to look closely, as the answer you’re looking for might be right under your nose. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned that idioms are non-literal phrases that are used to emphasize your statement. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Learning and using idioms will help you to use Korean more spontaneously, and to express your feelings in a more accurate way. To help you out, we created a list of ten very common Korean idioms, with a short description of what they mean. The first is |
| Kyejin: 꿩 먹고 알 먹는다 (kkwong meokgo al meongneunda) |
| Michael: This literally means “Eat a pheasant and eat its egg.” It’s the equivalent of the English idiom “Kill two birds with one stone,” which refers to receiving two benefits by performing one action. It’s like when you get to run two errands in a single trip, such as being able to drop off your laundry as you head to the grocery store. The next one on our list is |
| Kyejin: 로마는 하루아침에 이루어진 것이 아니다 (romaneun haruachime irueojin geosi anida) |
| Michael: This one literally means “Rome wasn’t made in one morning.” Yes, it does sound familiar because it’s the Korean version of the saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” We all know that Rome didn’t become a great nation overnight. In the same way, this idiom reminds us that huge, important tasks cannot be completed in a hurry. Such tasks take time and need careful planning in order to be accomplished. When someone tells you they want to gain muscle only after a week of hitting the gym, you can quote them this idiom, or use the Korean version of this idiom, |
| Kyejin: 천리 길도 한 걸음부터 (cheolli gildo han georeumbuteo) |
| Michael: meaning “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” |
| Now, let’s move on to our next idiom, which is |
| Kyejin: 궁하면 통한다 (gunghamyeon tonghanda) |
| Michael: This one means “If you are hard up for something, it will open up.” It’s the same as saying, “There is always a way out,” or “If there’s a will, there’s a way.” You can use this idiom to encourage someone who’s trying to do their best to overcome a particular life obstacle. You can also say this to someone who’s planning to venture into a business but is hesitating due to fear of failure. Next up, we have |
| Kyejin: 원숭이도 나무에서 떨어질 때가 있다 (wonsungido namueseo tteoreojil ttaega itda) |
| Michael: Speaking of failure, this one is about the fact that even experts make mistakes. This literally means “Monkeys sometimes fall from trees.” You can use this phrase to encourage someone who feels frustrated after failing at something. Next on our list is |
| Kyejin: 옷이 날개다 (osi nalgaeda) |
| Michael: which literally means “Clothes are your wings.” This idiom highlights the importance of dressing well or being presentable at all times. Sayings like “clothes make the man” or “fine feathers make fine birds” are in the same vein as this expression. It’s like telling someone to “dress to impress.” Our next idiom is |
| Kyejin: 그림의 떡 (geu-reem-eui dduk) |
| Michael: This means “Rice cake in a picture.” Rice cakes are part of the staple foods in Korea and are eaten as snacks as well. Due to their popularity, it’s not unusual to see them in posters. And just as it’s impossible to eat a printed image of a mouthwatering rice cake, this idiom illustrates the impossibility of something to happen even though a person eagerly wants it to. For instance, we all want to travel and take our yearly vacation, but, due to the world’s current situation, it’s all rice cake in a picture. Next, we have |
| Kyejin: 식은 죽 먹기 (shik-eun jook muk-gi) |
| Michael: Most of us are familiar with the English idiom “It’s a piece of cake.” Well, this is its equivalent in Korean. This is literally “like eating cold porridge.” Just like rice cake, rice porridge is a common part of the Korean diet. It’s made by slowly boiling rice in water and adding in some ingredients for the flavor. Rice porridge is easy to eat and digest due to its watery nature. That said, saying that something is “like eating cold porridge” is implying that the task is relatively simple and easy. The next idiom on our list is |
| Kyejin: 눈이 높다 (nun-ee nop-da) |
| Michael: This literally means “eyes are high,” and implies the idea of having very unrealistic expectations. A person whose “eyes are high” often have a standard or perception of things that is much higher than everybody elses. This idiom is often associated with people in a relationship who always expect far too much from their partner. Another idiom relating to eyes is |
| Kyejin: 눈이 뒤집히다 (nun-ee dwi-jip-hee-da) |
| Michael: This time, we have “eyes are turned upside down.” If you’ve guessed that this has something to do with an angry person, it’s because it does. People don’t really get their eyes to turn upside down when they’re frustrated, but we all know how a person’s emotions can be seen clearly through the look on their faces. So this idiom fittingly describes an indignant person going mad or losing control of themselves. An English idiom similar to this would be “flip one’s lid.” Finally, we have the idiom |
| Kyejin: 꼬리를 치다/흔들다 (kko-ri-reul chi-da / heun-deul-da) |
| Michael: This means “To beat or wag one’s tail.” This may sound cute for all of you dog lovers out there, but it has nothing to do with cute dogs at all. But just as dogs wag their tail when they want something from you, this idiom means flattering somebody to get their attention. In the Korean language, this has something more to do with flirting than with simply flattering to gain someone’s favor. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: In the past, Korean culture has been strongly influenced by China. You may know already that, for example, Chinese characters were used as the main script in Korea for a very long time, and, even after establishing Hangul, Chinese characters played a big role in the Korean language. |
| But Chinese characters aren’t the only thing that found its way from China to Korea. In Korea, you might come across idioms called |
| Kyejin: 사자성어 (sajaseong-eo) |
| Michael: in English, “four-character idioms.” Those idioms originated from China, and the name goes back to them always consisting of four characters. |
| It is said that those idiomatic expressions carry the whole wisdom of China, and while most were just carried over to the Korean language, Korea also has their own, Korea specific, four-character idioms. |
| Let’s have a look at one of them, |
| Kyejin: 일석이조 (il-seog-i-jo) |
| Michael: In order to figure out what this idiom means, we need to know what each syllable stands for. This idiom, originally written as |
| Kyejin: 한자 (hanja) |
| Michael: or Chinese characters, consists of four words. Let’s have a closer look at them. The first word is |
| Kyejin: 일 (il) |
| Michael: which stands for “one”. The second word is |
| Kyejin: 석 (seok) |
| Michael: which means “stone”. The third one |
| Kyejin: 이 (i) |
| Michael: Is “two”. You might be thinking that the first and the third characters |
| Kyejin: 일, 이 (il, i) |
| Michael: sound familiar to you. And, yes, they are the numbers we learned from the Sino-Korean numbers, one and two! Then, let's move on to the last character |
| Kyejin: 조 (jo) |
| Michael: meaning “bird”. All together, this four-character idiom, “one stone two bird”, is describing a hunter catching two birds with a single stone, and thus is used when two things are accomplished with a single action. Wait, haven’t we learned something similar just a moment ago? Yes, the old saying we learned previously, |
| Kyejin: 꿩 먹고 알 먹는다 (kkwong meokgo al meongneunda) |
| Michael: and this four-character idiom |
| Kyejin: 일석이조 (il-seog-i-jo) |
| Michael: basically convey the same thought, “Kill two birds with one stone.” |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Kyejin: 안녕히 계세요 (annyeonghi gyeseyo) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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