Idioms
Fixed expressions with a figurative meaning
to read someone's mood; to be wary of how someone will react
부장님 눈치를 보느라 먼저 퇴근을 못 했어요.— I couldn't leave first because I was watching my manager's mood.
자꾸 남 눈치 보지 말고 네가 하고 싶은 대로 해.— Stop worrying about what everyone thinks and just do what you want.
to be picky; to have high standards
언니는 눈이 높아서 아직 남자친구가 없어요.— My sister is picky, so she still doesn't have a boyfriend.
네가 눈이 높은 게 아니라 그냥 인연이 없는 거야.— It's not that you're picky, you just haven't met the right person.
to be well-connected; to know many people
그 선배는 발이 넓어서 모르는 사람이 없어요.— That senior knows everyone — he's incredibly well connected.
너 발 넓잖아. 혹시 인테리어 하는 사람 아는 사람 있어?— You know a lot of people. Do you know anyone who does interiors?
to be generous; to do things in large quantities
어머니가 손이 크셔서 늘 음식이 남아요.— My mom always makes too much food — she's so generous.
너 손 커서 네 명인데 왜 이렇게 많이 시켰어?— There are only four of us. Why did you order so much?
to be hectic, frazzled, out of one's wits with busyness
요즘 이사 준비하느라 정신이 없어요.— I'm swamped these days getting ready to move.
어제는 정신이 없어서 지갑도 두고 나왔어.— I was so frazzled yesterday that I left my wallet at home.
to like; to be to one's liking
이 색깔이 제일 마음에 들어요.— I like this color the best.
그 집 진짜 마음에 들더라. 계약할까 봐.— I really liked that place. I might sign the lease.
to be absurd, ridiculous, unbelievable
하루 만에 다 하라니 말도 안 되는 소리예요.— Asking me to finish it in one day is ridiculous.
말도 안 돼. 그걸 진짜 믿었다고?— No way. You actually believed that?
to be speechless/dumbfounded; also, to be fantastic
어이가 없어서 기가 막히네요.— I'm speechless — this is outrageous.
여기 갈비찜 맛이 기가 막혀.— The braised ribs here are unbelievably good.
to fail an exam; to be rejected
이번 시험에서도 미역국을 먹었어요.— I failed the exam again this time.
면접에서 미역국 먹었다고 너무 실망하지 마.— Don't be too down about bombing the interview.
to get ripped off; to be overcharged
관광지라서 그런지 바가지를 쓴 것 같아요.— I think I got ripped off because it's a tourist spot.
택시에서 바가지 쓰지 않게 미터기 꼭 확인해.— Check the meter in the taxi so you don't get ripped off.
to stand out; to be noticeable
빨간 가방이라 멀리서도 눈에 띄어요.— It's a red bag, so it stands out even from far away.
요즘 실력이 눈에 띄게 늘었네.— Your skills have improved noticeably lately.
to get pissed off; to be furious
아까 그 말 듣고 진짜 열 받았어요.— I got really pissed off when I heard that.
열받지 말고 일단 내 얘기 좀 들어 봐.— Don't get mad — just hear me out first.
to be envious of someone else's success
친구가 잘돼서 축하는 하는데 조금 배가 아파요.— I'm happy for my friend, but I'm a little envious.
사촌이 땅 사면 배 아프다더니 딱 내 얘기네.— They say you get jealous when your cousin buys land — that's me.
to be a headache; to be troublesome
이 문제는 생각할수록 골치가 아파요.— The more I think about this problem, the bigger a headache it is.
골치 아픈 일은 내일 생각하자.— Let's think about the annoying stuff tomorrow.
to be tight-lipped; to keep secrets well
그 사람은 입이 무거우니까 말해도 괜찮아요.— He can keep a secret, so it's fine to tell him.
형은 입이 무거워서 아무한테도 안 옮겨.— My brother is tight-lipped; he won't pass it on.
to have a big mouth; to be unable to keep secrets
그 사람은 입이 가벼워서 비밀을 못 맡겨요.— He has a big mouth, so I can't trust him with secrets.
입 가벼운 애한테 그런 얘길 왜 했어?— Why did you tell that to someone who blabs?
to be easily influenced; gullible
제가 귀가 얇아서 광고만 보면 사게 돼요.— I'm easily swayed — I buy things just from seeing ads.
너 귀 얇은 거 알면서 왜 자꾸 홈쇼핑을 봐?— You know you're gullible, so why keep watching home shopping?
to be shameless; thick-skinned in a bad way
그렇게 부탁해 놓고 또 오다니 얼굴이 참 두꺼워요.— He asked that favor and still came back — so shameless.
얼굴 두꺼운 건 알아줘야 해.— You've got to admit he's shameless.
to feign ignorance; to play dumb
본인이 해 놓고 시치미를 떼더라고요.— He did it himself and then played innocent.
시치미 떼지 마. 다 봤어.— Don't play dumb. I saw everything.
to count one's chickens before they hatch
아직 합격도 안 했는데 김칫국부터 마시는 거예요.— You haven't even been accepted and you're already celebrating.
김칫국 좀 그만 마시고 결과나 기다려.— Stop getting ahead of yourself and just wait for the result.
to attend someone's wedding (lit. to eat noodles)
두 분 국수는 언제 먹여 주실 거예요?— When are you two going to let us eat wedding noodles?
너희 국수 먹는 날만 기다리고 있어.— I'm just waiting for the day you two get married.
to treat others to a meal, to stand a round
승진하셨으니 한턱내셔야죠.— You got promoted, so you owe us a treat.
오늘은 내가 한턱낼게. 먹고 싶은 거 골라.— My treat today. Pick whatever you want.
to be stood up
어제 소개팅에서 바람을 맞았어요.— I got stood up on my blind date yesterday.
한 시간이나 기다렸는데 결국 바람맞았어.— I waited a whole hour and got stood up in the end.
to be swamped, without a moment to breathe
연말이라 눈코 뜰 새 없이 바빠요.— It's year-end, so I'm swamped.
요즘 눈코 뜰 새가 없어서 연락도 못 했어.— I've been so busy lately I couldn't even call.
to be completely worn out; dead tired
하루 종일 서 있었더니 파김치가 됐어요.— I stood all day, so I'm completely wiped out.
이사하고 나서 다들 파김치가 됐지.— Everyone was dead tired after the move.
to mess something up; to do terribly
시험을 완전히 죽을 쒔어요.— I completely bombed the exam.
오늘 발표는 죽 쒔지만 다음엔 잘할게.— I blew the presentation today, but I'll do better next time.
to be a lost cause; the chance is gone
이번 계약은 사실상 물 건너갔어요.— This contract is basically dead.
지금 신청해도 이미 물 건너갔어.— Even if you apply now, that ship has sailed.
to wash one's hands of something; to stop being involved
그 일에서는 완전히 손을 뗐어요.— I've completely pulled out of that project.
이제 그만 손 떼고 네 일이나 해.— Just drop it and mind your own work.
to pull out; to extricate oneself from something
일이 커지자 슬그머니 발을 뺐어요.— He quietly backed out once things blew up.
위험해 보이면 빨리 발 빼는 게 나아.— If it looks risky, better to pull out early.
to be stranded; to be stuck and unable to move
눈 때문에 공항에서 발이 묶였어요.— I was stranded at the airport because of the snow.
태풍에 배가 안 떠서 섬에 발이 묶였대.— The ferry stopped because of the typhoon, so they're stuck on the island.
for a deadline to become urgent; crunch time hits
발등에 불이 떨어져야 시작하는 편이에요.— I only start when the deadline is right on top of me.
마감이 내일이라니, 이제 발등에 불 떨어졌네.— The deadline's tomorrow? Now it's crunch time.
to be in sync; to have good teamwork
저희 둘은 손발이 잘 맞아서 일이 빨라요.— The two of us work in sync, so we get things done fast.
손발이 안 맞으니까 자꾸 실수가 나지.— We're out of sync, which is why mistakes keep happening.
to jump in and help wholeheartedly
이웃 일에 발 벗고 나서 주셨어요.— He stepped right up to help his neighbor.
친구 일이라면 발 벗고 나서는 애야.— She'll jump in without hesitation if a friend needs help.
to roll up one's sleeves and get to work
다들 팔을 걷어붙이고 청소를 시작했어요.— Everyone rolled up their sleeves and started cleaning.
이번엔 내가 팔 걷어붙이고 도와줄게.— This time I'll roll up my sleeves and help you.
to take one for the team; to speak up on everyone's behalf
결국 제가 총대를 메고 말씀드렸어요.— In the end I took one for the team and said it.
누가 총대 멜래? 아무도 말을 안 하네.— Who's going to speak up? Nobody's saying anything.
to stab someone in the back; to betray
믿었던 사람한테 뒤통수를 맞았어요.— I got stabbed in the back by someone I trusted.
그렇게 뒤통수 칠 줄은 몰랐다.— I never thought he'd betray me like that.
to throw cold water on something; to kill the mood
분위기 좋았는데 그 말이 찬물을 끼얹었어요.— The mood was good until that comment threw cold water on it.
괜히 찬물 끼얹지 말고 가만있어.— Don't be a wet blanket — just sit quietly.
to lose all excitement; to be deflated
결말을 미리 들으니까 김이 새요.— Hearing the ending in advance takes all the fun out of it.
기다렸는데 취소됐다니 김샜다.— I waited and then it got canceled — such a letdown.
to spoil something that's going well
잘돼 가는 일에 왜 초를 치세요?— Why are you spoiling something that's going well?
옆에서 초 치지 말고 좀 도와줘.— Stop sniping from the side and help out.
to bring up old news; to react far too late
그건 지난주 얘기예요. 뒷북치시네요.— That's last week's news — you're way behind.
이제 와서 뒷북치지 말고 미리 좀 알아봐.— Don't act surprised now; look into it ahead of time.
to be nosy; to meddle in others' affairs
제가 오지랖이 넓어서 참견을 좀 했어요.— I'm nosy, so I stuck my nose in a bit.
오지랖 좀 그만 부려. 알아서 할게.— Stop meddling. I'll handle it myself.
to be quick on the uptake; perceptive
그 친구는 눈치가 빨라서 말 안 해도 알아요.— He's perceptive — he knows without being told.
눈치 빠르네. 어떻게 알았어?— Quick catch. How did you know?
to fall out of favor with someone
지각 때문에 팀장님 눈 밖에 났어요.— I fell out of favor with my team lead because of my lateness.
괜히 눈 밖에 나는 짓 하지 마.— Don't do anything that'll put you in their bad books.
to turn a blind eye; to let a mistake slide
이번 한 번만 눈감아 주세요.— Please let it slide just this once.
한 번은 눈감아 줬는데 또 그러네.— I let it go once and they did it again.
for an image of someone to linger painfully in one's mind
두고 온 아이가 자꾸 눈에 밟혀요.— I keep picturing the child I left behind.
고향 집이 눈에 밟혀서 잠이 안 왔어.— I couldn't sleep because my hometown home kept coming to mind.
to have one's eye on something
저 자리를 아까부터 눈독 들이고 있었어요.— I've had my eye on that seat for a while.
그 신발 내가 먼저 눈독 들였어.— I had my eye on those shoes first.
to lose all reason from rage or greed
돈 앞에서 눈이 뒤집힌 것 같았어요.— He seemed to lose his mind at the sight of money.
화가 나서 눈이 뒤집혔었나 봐.— I guess I lost it because I was so angry.
to look away; to let one's attention drift
잠깐 한눈을 파는 사이에 사고가 났어요.— The accident happened the moment I looked away.
운전할 때 한눈팔면 안 돼.— You mustn't get distracted while driving.
to frown in disapproval
지하철에서 통화 소리에 다들 눈살을 찌푸렸어요.— Everyone frowned at the loud phone call on the subway.
보는 사람이 눈살 찌푸릴 행동은 하지 마.— Don't do things that make people frown.
to wait anxiously for a long time
합격 소식을 목이 빠지게 기다렸어요.— I waited anxiously for the acceptance news.
택배 오기만 목 빠지게 기다리는 중이야.— I'm waiting forever for my package to arrive.