I ran across this four-character idiom somewhere – exactly where, I don’t recall but it’s in my notes.
事事件件
사사건건
sa.sa.geon.geon
work-work-thing-thing
This means “each and every,” but with negative valences.
Usage:
사사건건 트집 = finding fault, blemish, crack
사사건건 간섭하다 = meddling, interference
[daily log: walking, 6.5km]
사건
incident, affair, event; case
Doubling each implies “every” (as in 매일매일, e.g.) but it is unusual that each letter is doubled individually rather than the full word being doubled (i.e., “사건사건”).
Hi Peter,
My best guess is that this doesn’t follow the regular pattern because it came “pre-reduplicated” from the Chinese, whereas most Korean reduplications are “native” meaning after borrowing. The Chinese reduplicative pattern is more likely to be syllable-by-syllable.
Thanks for the comment and good luck with your studies.