Category: 한국어 속담 (Aphorisms & Proverbs)

I found this idiom in my Korean idiom book.

뒤로 호박씨 까다
dwi.ro ho.bak.ssi kka.da
behind-MEANS pumpkin-seed crack
Crack pumpkin seeds with your behind.

I thought this was an interesting idea, because in figuring it out, I learned that the Korean word 뒤, which means “behind,” can also mean “behind” in the English idiomatic sense of ass. Thus this is, “to crack pumpkin seeds with your ass.”
What it means, apparently, is to appear innocent but to be carrying out nefarious deeds in secret. I guess to the extent that cracking pumpkin seeds with one’s ass is nefarious, that makes sense, as it would be hard to tell just looking at someone that they were doing that.
[daily log: walking, 6km]

This is an aphorism from my aphorism book.

중이 제 머리를 못 깎는다
jung.i je meo.ri.reul mot kkakk.neun.da
monk-SUBJ self head-OBJ cannot shave-PRES
A monk cannot shave his own head.

This is interesting, because two sources give nearly opposite meanings for this aphorism. My aphorism book says that this is the idea of a someone who can’t take care of himself properly, or can’t manage his own affairs, implying it as a kind of criticism. The online dictionary daum.net says that this is “A man cannot scratch his own back” – i.e. that this the idea that a person needs other people. I think the online version makes more sense.
[daily log: walking, 6km]

I learned this four-character Sino-Korean aphorism from my building’s elevator’s advertising TV yesterday.
吉祥善事
길상선사
gil.sang.seon.sa
The online dictionary gives the meaning: “더할 수 없이 기쁘고 경사스러운 일.”
It took me a while to figure out this definition, until I realized 없이 was an adverbialized form of 없다. From that, I guess this definition literally translates to something like “A happy and auspicious day unable-ly to grow worse,” but we have to make the adverbial into relative clause to make natural English: “A happy and auspicious day that cannot grow worse.”
Sounds like that would be a pretty good day. Not that I’ve had many in that category lately, although last week wasn’t really that bad – just very busy and I feel tired.
[daily log: walking, 1 km]

I saw this aphorism in my aphorism book.
누은 나무에 열매 안연다
nu.eun na.mu.e yeol.mae an.yeon.da
fall-PP tree-LOC fruit not-bear-PRES
A fallen tree bears no fruit.
The book suggests “nothing ventured, nothing gained” as an English equivalent. That makes sense.
I haven’t ventured much lately. 
QED.
[daily log: walking, 6km]

This is a four-character aphorism from my elevator. Let me explain: my building’s elevator has this video display that plays news or advertising. Sometimes they put up these Chinese aphorisms, like this one. I decided to look it up, as I stood there staring at the screen.

단순 호치 = 丹脣皓齒
dan.sun.ho.chi

According to the daum online dictionary, this means “red lips white teeth” and references the face a beautiful woman. It seems very Chinese to me.
[daily log: walking, 6 km]

This is an aphorism from my aphorism book.

동에 번쩍 서에 번쩍
dong.e beon.jjeok seo.e beon.jjeok
east-AT gleaming west-AT gleaming
[…Like] a glint in the east, [then] a glint in the west

This references someone who flits around, not really leaving a trace. “Quick and aimless feet” is the phrase used in the aphorism book. I can’t think of an English language equivalent, at the moment.
I rather like the utter fail that is google-translate’s offering: “Standing gleaming in gleaming copper.” That is poetic but not quite what was intended.
This aphorism makes me think of wizards, or ghost stories.
In fact, this reminds me of the ghost story I sometimes tell my students. It’s not really something that happened to me, although it has some germs of truth in the events of the night I died.
What I did was modify and alter some details, and focus in on several details that aren’t part of the canonical telling, and craft a narrative appropriate for children, with a frisson of weirdness and supernatural. Koreans enjoy ghost stories, and I felt that having my own ghost story would be a good idea.
I thought I had written this story down in my blog at some point in the past, but it seems that I did not, based on searching around the archives a bit. I was going to put a link to it, but since I did not, I’ll have write it for my blog and post it in the future, at which point I’ll put a link here.
[daily log: walking, yes, walking, walking, walking, well, not really that much.]

I was cited this “four-character aphorism” by a student (I’ve discussed these special types of aphorisms [broken link! FIXME] before). He didn’t bother to explain it – somehow it’s just something people should know – as is so often the case with aphorisms.
So I had to figure it out. First of all, I went online and found the hanja (Chinese characters), as my student had only cited the hangeul spelling of it.

自强不息
자강불식
ja.gang.bul.sik
self.exert.not.breathe

Really I’m not totally confident I understand it. I found this definition in Korean, which I don’t fully get: “스스로 힘써 몸과 마음을 가다듬고 쉬지 않음.”
The definition seems to mean something to the effect of “working hard doesn’t take care of heart and body.” I have decided the aphorism must mean something like “sometimes one should take a break.” Perhaps it’s like “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
After trying to figure this out, I decided to take a break.
[daily log: walking, 6.5 km]
 
 

This is an aphorism from my aphorism book.

수박 겉 핥기
su.bak geot halt.gi
watermelon surface taste-GER
[… like] licking the skin of a watermelon.

This seems to refer to the superficial enjoyment of something without knowledge of the deeper meaning. Googletranslate gives “scratch the surface” but I’m not sure that’s quite exactly the same – “scratch the surface,” to me, anyway, means something neutral, as in, just getting started digging into some topic (potentially negitive but also potentially positive). The Korean seems more definitely negative, to my perception, implying a kind of “failing to dig deeper.”
[daily log: walking, 6 km]

This is an aphorism from my aphorism book.

살아가면 고향
sal.a.ga.myeon go.hyang
lead-life-WHEN hometown
Home is where you’re living.

It means that living somewhere, it becomes home. “Home is where you hang your hat.” Or, in Buckaroo Bonzai terms, “Wherever you go, there you are.”
This is highly relevant. I need to remember this when Koreans ask me where my home is.
[daily log: walking, 6 km]

This is an aphorism from my aphorism book.

두 손뼉이 맞아야 소리가 난다
du son.ppyeok.i maj.a.ya so.ri.ga nan.da
two palm-SUBJ meet-OFCOURSE(?) sound-SUBJ comes-out-PRES
With two palms meeting, sound comes out.

This has the meaning of “it takes a team [at least two] to get anything done.” It’s not quite the same as the English phrase “it takes two [to tango]”, which has a kind of negative implication about how it takes two people to do something bad (like argue or fight). The Korean seems positive in its valences.
I was (am) puzzled by the ending -야 on the finite verb form 맞 아. According to my grammar bible, the -야 ending is for nouns with that “even” or “of course” meaning. But it made sense to assume that’s what was being done here. I have a vague recollection of a verbal -야 studied somewhere, but  I can’t remember the specifics and for the life of me I can’t find it right now in my grammar books. 
[daily log: walking, 6 km]

This is an aphorism from my aphorism book.

내 말이 좋으니 (네 말이) 좋으니 해도 달려 보아야 한다
nae mal.i joh.eu.ni joh.eu.ni hae.do dal.lyeo bo.a.ya han.da
my horse-SUBJ be-good-SINCE (your horse-SUBJ) be-good-SINCE do-CONC gallop-INF try-SHOULD
Although it may be that my horse is good or your horse is good, one must try it at a gallop.

Only by experience can we really know something. The part in parentheses was not in my aphorism book, but I was having trouble figuring out the grammar and when I googled the aphorism online, I got the version with the extra between parentheses, which made the meaning easier to figure out.
See? Only by experience. 
[daily log: walking, 2 km]

This is an aphorism from my aphorism book.

쥐구멍을 소 몰랴고 한다
jwi.gu.meong.eul so mol.lya.go han.da
mouse-hole-OBJ cow push-CONTN do-PRES
[Like] pushing a cow in a mouse-hole.

It seems to mean something like a “putting a square peg in a round hole” – doing something impossible.
[daily log: walking, 6 km]

Here is an aphorism from my aphorism book.

쇠살에 말살 붙인다
soe.sal.e mal.sal but.in.da
cow-meat-LOC horse-meat attach-PRES
[Like…] attaching horse-meat to cow meat.

This means an ill-fitted agglomeration or patchwork of things, and extended metaphorically, I guess it’s used to refer to a badly constructed argument. To me, it sounds a bit like the old idea of how golems are supposed to be constructed. Anyway, that seems like something useful to know how to say, though if my Korean was good enough to recognize a badly constructed argument (or any kind of argument), I’d be too pleased to complain.
[daily log: walking, 1.5 km]

Here is an aphorism from my aphorism book.

쓴맛 단맛 다 보았다
sseun.mat dan.mat da bo.att.da
bitter-taste sweet-taste all saw-PAST
[I’ve] seen bitter and sweet tastes.

This means, “To have had a diverse life,” or “I’ve known good times and bad times.”
True.
[daily log: walking, 5 km]