Bodacious Terms

thekimchibear:

This time we look at phrases that come from right under our noses.. literally (excluding the face ones.) ANYWAYS.. We’ll look at some idioms that refer to our bodies. As always, these terms don’t have direct translations, so I wrote some examples down to help understand their uses. 

Let’s dive into it!

얼굴이 두껍다 – Shameless, brazen
회사에서는 얼굴이 두꺼워야 해. 전날 싸우고도 계속 같이 일 해야 하니까 – You have to act brazen at a company. Even if you fought the day before, you have to keep working together.

발이 넓다 – Friends in many places (large reach)
잭은 발이 넓은것 같아. 모든 나라에 친구들이 있더라고. – I guess Jack has friends in many places. He seems like he has friends in every country. (Creative, right!?)

손이 크다 – Positive: Openhanded, generous / Negative: Excessively giving, buying, or making.
폴은 사업가라 손이 크던데요? 선물용 홍삼을 몇백만원치 사더라고요. – Paul is a big spender. It seems like he bought several thousand dollars worth of ginseng.

쑤의 어머니는 손이 크셔서 집에 놀러갈때 마다 부침개를 열장씩 부쳐주셔. – Sue’s mom is so generous. Every time I visit their house she makes me ten Korean pancakes.

엉덩이가 무겁다 – Positive: Tolerant, enduring / Negative: Lazy
한국에서는 학생한테 이런 말을 많이 한데 “학생은 엉덩이가 무거워야지.” – In Korea there’s a saying that “students must endure.

필은 부르면 한번에 안 나와. 한 열번은 불러야 나와… 내가 아는 사람중에 제일 엉덩이가 무거워. – If you call Phil once he won’t come out. You have to call him several times… He’s the laziest person I know.

간이 크다 – Courageous (can be negative or positive)
간이 큰건지, 죽고 싶은건지, 어떻게 총을 든 강도한테 덤빌 수 있어? – Are you brave, or do you want to die? How could you attack a robber with a gun?

입이 무겁다 – Tight lipped (opposite is 입이 가볍다)
제가 믿을 수 있는 사람은 송이밖에 없어요. 송이는 입이 무겁거든요. – There’s no one I trust more than Songi. She’ll never tell anyone.  

귀가 얇다 – Easily persuaded 
귀가 얇아도 너무 얇은거 아니야? 왜 맨날 생각이 바뀌냐? – Aren’t you a little too easy to persuade? Why do you change your opinion every day?

Hope these were interesting, and there always many more that we can dive into! So if you liked this post, please let me know ^^ More to come soon! (I promise)

Sorry for the weird pictures? 

similar words:

건더기   –   궁둥이 

건더기 = Solid ingredients of soup, bits of meat and vegetables in soup; also grounds/reason for doing something

건더기만 건져 먹다 = Eat only the big bits 
이 수프는 건더기가 많다 = This soup is very chunky.
그를 비난할 건더기가 없다 = I have no grounds to accuse him.

궁둥이 = Buttocks, butt, bottom etc.
(technically only the lower buttocks, but people use both 궁둥이 and 엉덩이 to refer to the entire buttocks^^) 

소화 = digestion 
           점심 먹고 소화시킬 겸 좀 걷고 싶어요 = I want to take a walk and digest my lunch. 
탐험 = exploration, adventure (

探 찾을 탐 | 險 험할 험 (rough, hard))
용감하다 = brave, courageous 

몸살이 나다 = ache all over one’s body (from fatigue/cold)

           그는 여행이 가고 싶어서 몸살이 났다 =  He is dying to go on a trip. 
           감기 몸살에 걸렸어 = I had a bad cold and flu.

몸이 약하다/허약하다 = to be weak/feeble

저는 어렸을 때 몸이 약했어요 = When I was young, my body was weak.

몸이 튼튼하다 = to be strong, sturdy, healthy

저는 몸이 튼튼해서 감기에 잘 안 걸려요 = I am healthy/strong so I don’t catch a cold easily.

몸이 근질거리다 = to be itching/anxious to do something (근질거리다 = to be itchy)

요즘에 운동을 안 했더니 몸이 근질거려요 = I haven’t done any exercise recently, so I’m dying to start working out again.

몸이 좋다/안 좋다 = to be in good shape/not good shape, to feel unwell

몸이 안 좋을 때에는 충분히 자는 게 좋아요.= When you are not feeling well, you need to get enough sleep.

몸을 만들다 = to build up one’s body, to work out to get fit

요즘 몸 만들려고 운동을 열심히 하고 있어요 = These days I am working out hard in order to get fit/build muscles.

몸을 사리다 = to be cautious, to not take risks

저 운동선수는 몸을 안 사리고 위험한 기술을 많이 시도해서, 많이 다쳤어요 = That athlete has tried many dangerous techniques without worrying about his safety, so he has gotten hurt many times.

몸에 배다 = to become a habit (배다 = to be stained, saturated) 

처음에는 어색했는데 벌써 몸에 뱄어요 = It was awkward at first, but I’ve grown used to it.

몸을 혹사시키다 = to overexert oneself, to overwork (혹사시키다 = to overexert, to exploit)

왜 그렇게 자기 몸을 혹사시켜요? 쉬면서 하세요 = Why do you overwork yourself? Get some rest from time to time.

몸을 망치다 = to ruin one’s health

아무리 젊어도, 잠을 안 자고 공부하면 몸을 망쳐요 = No matter how young you are, if you only study without sleeping, you will ruin your health 

머리가 좋다/나쁘다/안 좋다

= to be smart/stupid

그 사람은 머리는 좋은데 노력을 안 해요 = He is smart, but he doesn’t make any effort.

머리를 쓰다 = to use one’s head (to think) 

힘으로만 하지 말고 머리를 좀 써 보세요 = Don’t try to do it just by strength, but use your head.

머리를 굴리다 = to put one’s brain to work, to use one’s head to (굴리다 = to roll something,

casual expression so not always polite)

아무리 머리를 굴려 봐도 답이 안 나와요 = No matter how hard I try, I can’t find an answer/solution.

잔머리(를) 굴리다 = to think of petty tricks/shortcuts/lazy ways to get out of a situation 

잔머리 굴리지 말고 열심히 일해! = Stop trying to find ways to work less. Just work hard.

머리가 깨질 것 같다 = to have splitting headache (깨지다 = to break)

머리가 깨질 것처럼 아파요 = My head hurts as if it’s going to break.
어제 술을 너무 많이 마셔서 오늘 머리가 깨질 것처럼 아파요 = I drank too much yesterday, so I have a splitting headache today.

머리가 (잘) 안 돌아가다 = can’t think well, can’t think straight (돌아가다 = to spin (head spins when you’re thinking))

피곤해서 머리가 안 돌아가요. 바람 좀 쐬고 올게요 = I’m tired so I can’t think straight. I’ll go get some fresh air.

머리가 복잡하다 = can’t think straight, to have a lot of concerns in one’s head (복잡하다 = to be complicated, to be complex)

요즘에 걱정되는 일이 많아서 머리가 복잡해요 = I am worried about a lot of things these days, so my head is full of concerns.

머리를 스치다 = an idea/thought that flashes through one’s mind (스치다 = to graze, to brush past)

재미있는 생각이 머리를 스쳤어요 = I just thought of an interesting idea.

머리가 멍하다 = one’s mind is blank

여기 너무 시끄러워서 머리가 멍해요 = It’s so noisy here that I can’t think.

머리가 띵하다 = to feel dizzy, one’s brain feels numb (dull headache)

갑자기 일어섰더니 머리가 띵 해요 = I stood up suddenly and I feel dizzy.

머리가 크다 = to start thinking like an adult

이제 애들이 머리가 커서 말을 안 들어요 = The children have grown, so now they don’t listen to what I say.

가슴이 아프다 = My heart aches

저는 이런 기사를 읽으면 너무 가슴이 아파요 = I’m so sad when I read articles like this.

가슴이 답답하다 = My heart feels heavy, there’s a weight on my chest (답답하다 = to be stuffy, to be stifling)

요즘에 걱정이 많아서 가슴이 답답해요= I have a lot of things to worry about these days, so I feel a pressure on my chest.

가슴이 내려앉다 = My heart sinks (내려앉다 = to sink, to collapse)

그 소식 듣고 정말 가슴이 내려앉았어요= My heart sank when I heard that news.

부푼 가슴을 안고 = With a pounding heart (부풀다 = to inflate, 부푼 가슴 = heart full of hope and excitement, 안다 = to hug/hold, usually used in written language) 

부푼 가슴을 안고 10년 전에 서울로 이사왔어요 = I moved to Seoul 10 years ago, full of excitement.

가슴에 와 닿다 = To touch my heart (오다 = to come, 닿다 = to reach, to touch)

왜인지 모르겠지만 이 이야기는 가슴에 와 닿지 않아요 = I don’t know why, but this story doesn’t touch my heart.

가슴에 맺힌 한을 풀다= To resolve a deep sorrow (맺히다 = to form, 한 = resentment, 풀다 = to resolve)

저희 어머니는 드디어 가슴에 맺힌 한을 풀었어요 = Our mother finally got what she had been hoping for/resolved her sorrow.

가슴 벅차다 = My heart is full of joy

제 친구가 올림픽에서 금메달을 따서 정말 가슴이 벅차요 = My heart is overflowing with joy because my friend won a gold medal in the Olympics.

(가슴) 깊이 후회하다 = to deeply regret (or 뉘우치다 for stronger feeling of being sorry for, repenting regret)

그때 제가 했던 말을 가슴 깊이 후회하고 있어요 = I am deeply regretting what I said back then.
가슴 깊이 뉘우치고 있어요. 용서해 주세요 = I am deeply sorry for what I did. Please forgive me.

가슴이 뛰다 = My heart is beating/racing (뛰다 = to jump, to run)

지금 가슴이 너무 뛰어서 말이 안 나와요= Right now I’m so excited that I can’t speak.

Can be used with onomatopoeia such as 두근두근 (pit-a-pat-a, palpitating, beating) 콩닥콩닥 (pounding, fluttering (lightly/cutely)) 쿵쾅쿵쾅 (thumping, racing (heavily)). Or use these words with 거리다 as

두근거리다, 

콩닥거리다,

쿵쾅

거리다. 

가슴이 콩닥콩닥 뛰었다 = My heart was pounding.
가슴이 두근거리다 = My chest is pounding.

어젯밤에 가슴이 두근거려서 잠을 많이 못 잤어요= I couldn’t sleep a lot last night because I was so excited.

귀가 밝다 = to have good ears (lit. your ears are bright)

젊었을 때는 저도 귀가 밝았는데, 지금은 작은 소리는 잘 안 들려요 = I used to have good ears when I was young, too, but I can’t hear small sounds now.

귀를 기울이다 = to listen carefully, to pay attention (기울이다 = to tilt)

아이들이 선생님이 해 주는 이야기를 귀를 기울여서 듣고 있었어요 = The children were listening to the story their teacher was telling them with full attention.

귀에 대고 속삭이다 = to whisper into someone’s ears (대다 = to put close to, 속삭이다 = to whisper) 

귀에 대고 속삭이지 말고 크게 말해요 = Don’t whisper to each other secretly. Speak loudly (to everybody).)

귀(가) 먹다 = to be deaf, to be not able to hear

귀 먹었어? = are you deaf (why aren’t you listening to me)?
저 귀 안 먹었어요. 조용히 말해요 = I’m not deaf. Speak quietly

귀가 간지럽다 = to feel like someone is talking behind one’s back (간지럽다 = to feel itchy)

어쩐지 오늘 귀가 간지러웠어요 = No wonder my ears were itchy today (when you find out someone was talking about you)

귀가 얇다 = to be easily influenced by what others say (얇다 = to be thin)

그 사람은 귀가 얇아서 설득하기 쉬워요 = He is easily influenced by what people say so he’s easy to persuade.

귀에 못이 박히도록 (듣다) = to have heard something too much already (to hear something so often that a callus forms on your ear)

그 얘기는 귀에 못이 박히도록 들었어요 = I’ve heard that story so much. I don’t need to hear it again.