Everyday life Korean idiom : What does 파김치가 되다 mean? The origin and realistic example sentences! Plus, get some knowledge about kimchi and Korean culture.

Like every other language, Korean has tons of fun and witty idiomatic expressions.

The question that can arise when learning Korean idioms on your own is, "But do native Korean speakers actually use these expressions in everyday life?".

So here's a heads up. I guarantee that the Korean idioms I introduce in this blog are only the ones that are actually very common among the many Korean idioms.

Today, we're going to learn "파김치가 되다" as an idiomatic expression in Korean.

I don't know every language, so I can't say for sure, but I can surely guess that many languages have one thing in common.

That is, each language would have many idioms that reflect the culture of the country. For example, English has idioms using like 'bacon' or 'chip', and French has idioms using like 'cheese' or 'baguette'.

Similarly, Korean has quite a few idioms using 'rice' or 'kimchi'. LOL~!

This common ground is a frequent topic of conversation between the French co-author of this blog and me.

Today's idiom consists of very simple minimal elements.

If you've studied a little bit of Korean, you'll recognize the literal meaning of today's idiom. However, the pride is short-lived. The question "What the hell does ‘a human turns into kimchi’ mean???" will immediately follow.

The more different the literal meaning is from the actual meaning, the more "idiomatic" it is, so today's idiom is just that.

Let’s start by breaking down the phrase "파김치가 되다" word by word.

파 : [noun] green onion, spring onion, Scallion

파김치 : [noun] green-onion kimchi

~가 : A suffix to make a noun a subject or a complement (a complement in this idiom)

become : [verb] become, turn into

Yes. The literal meaning is quite simple. It means “to become green-onion kimchi”.

Are you now thinking about what the difference is between 'green-onion kimchi' and 'regular kimchi'? That's an admirable attempt, but I'd say 'you don't have to go that far', because things called 'idioms' don't necessarily have a logical reason.

Let's start by talking about kimchi.

There are many kinds of kimchi in Korea. (Officially, there are 336 kinds of kimchi).

Off the top of my head, as an ordinary Korean, I can probably name about ten different kinds of kimchi that I eat on a daily basis.

Although there are many types of kimchi, the process of making them all starts the same. The first step is to salt and smother the vegetables that are the main ingredient. You don't want the kimchi to be too brothy, so you want to remove some of the water from the vegetables beforehand, but you also want to make sure the seasoning is just right.

"green-onion kimchi" is of course "kimchi made with green-onion", and it's one of the most common types of kimchi that the ordinary Koreans eat on a daily basis.

To make ‘파김치’, we Koreans use slender green-onions, not thick green onions. It’s because it's easier to make and easier to eat because it salts faster and softens more quickly.

(You : So what the heck does it mean to become green-onion kimchi?!!!)

(Whoa, whoa, we're getting there!)

This is where you can use your imagination.

So, picture this.

Before the salt is applied, the vegetables are vibrant and springy. But after a few hours of being covered in salt, they're dead, lifeless, and shriveled.

Together, these fragments can explain today's idiom.

In conclusion, the Korean idiom “파김치가 되다" means "to become so tired (physically)”. 

It's helpful to visualize a green onion that has gone from being plump and vibrant to shriveled up after spending hours covered in salt. 

The best English word that comes to mind when you picture “someone who has become so tired” is “be exhausted”. The difference between the idiom and “be exhausted” is that ‘파김치가 되다’ is only used to describe physical exhaustion. There are also “be worn out” and “be dead tired”.

Some of you may be wondering, "But why ‘green-onion kimchi’ in this idiom, out of all the kimchi out there?".

To this question, I just have to say, "Your guess is as good as mine."

Speaking of vegetables that go from plump to soggy when turning into kimchi, I’d say basic cabbage kimchi or cucumber kimchi are not far behind.

Let's just take it at face value and use it diligently in our daily lives, because that's what our adorable idioms want from us humans, right? 

I'd like to add one more thing.

The image in your head from this explanation might be “a human being turning into kimchi”. So this expression may seem very funny to you, but it's not the only way the idiom is used.

Basically, of course this idiom doesn’t have a very heavy or serious mood, but it doesn’t mean this idiom is always used in a very funny way, either.

For Koreans, it's not particularly funny, it's just a flat tone that expresses that you're physically very tired. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, it can be used in a serious or even emotional way, depending on the context. (like in examples 5 and 6 below)

I'll give you some realistic examples.

These are examples that many Koreans actually use in their daily lives.

[1] 일을 얼마나 한 거야? 파김치가 됐네! 우선 좀 쉬어! 내가 저녁 준비할게.

How long have you been working? You're exhausted! Get some rest, I'll make dinner.

[2] 어제 전화 못 받아서 미안. 퇴근하고 완전 파김치가 돼서 바로 잠들어 버렸어. 

I'm sorry I missed your call yesterday. I was so exhausted after work that I went straight to sleep.

[3] 일 끝내. 너 내일 첫 기차 타야 하는데 오늘 파김치 되면 어쩌려고 그래?

Finish your work. You have to catch the first train tomorrow. What if you get totally worn out today?

[4] 나, 차 사야겠어! 지하철로 출퇴근하니까 매일 파김치가 돼.

I need to buy a car! I commute by subway, and I become exhausted every day.

[5] 이제 우리 아빠도 인생을 즐기셔야 해. 우리를 위해서 평생 파김치가 되도록 일하셨거든.

Now my dad should enjoy life, he's been working so hard for the family his whole life that he became exhausted.

[6] 나 이제 아빠가 됐으니까 일을 더 많이 할거야. 파김치가 돼도 상관없어!

I'm going to work more now that I'm a dad. I don't mind becoming worn-out!

If this post was helpful to you, please leave a comment.

It will be a great motivation for me to continue this Korean Idiom series.

Everyday life Korean idiom : What does 엎어지면 코 닿을 데 mean? The origin and realistic example sentences!

Like every other language, Korean has tons of fun and witty idiomatic expressions.

The question that can arise when learning Korean idioms on your own is, "But do native Korean speakers actually use these expressions in everyday life?".

So here's a heads up. I guarantee that the Korean idioms I introduce in this blog are only the ones that are actually very common among the many Korean idioms.

Today, we're going to learn "엎어지면 코 닿을 데" as an idiomatic expression in Korean.

 

Let’s start by breaking down the phrase "엎어지면 코 닿을 데" word by word.

 

엎어지다 : [verb] fall down

코 : [noun] nose

닿다 : [verb] reach, touch

데 : [noun] place, somewhere

 

If you've got this far and chuckled, that means your Korean is pretty good.

That’s right. You can guess that the phrase "엎어지면 코 닿을 데" means something like "A place your nose can reach if you fall down".

 

So, let's take a closer look at each one.

First, we need to know how the two verbs in the phrase "엎어지면 코 닿을 데" are conjugated.

 

엎어지다 : The basic form of the verb, fall down

엎어지면 : if/when (somebody) falls down

 

Note that the verb "엎어지다" means the same thing as the more commonly used verb "넘어지다".

 

닿다 : The basic form of the verb, reach

닿을 : (something that somebody) can reach, or reachable

 

So, the chunk, "닿을 데", means something like this ;

닿을 데 : a place that somebody can reach

 

You can also use words like "곳" or "장소" instead of the noun "데".

Alternatively, it's also common to use the word "거리(distance)", which is not synonymous with "데", to say "엎어지면 코 닿을 거리". 

Of course, they mean the same thing.

 

Finally, the conclusion.

The Korean idiom "엎어지면 코 닿을 데" means "a very short distance".

Literally, it's the distance that your nose would touch if you fell. Since you're most likely no more than 2 meters tall, that's pretty close, right?

 

In English, it's roughly equivalent to “a stone's throw from something”, “within a stone's cast”.

 

Let me give you some realistic examples.

These are examples that many Koreans actually use in their daily lives.

 

[1] 뭘 하느라 이렇게 늦었어? 엎어지면 코 닿을 데 살면서!

What took you so long to come here? You live within a stone's throw!

 

[2] 30분 더 있다가 출발해도 돼. 엎어지면 코 닿을 거리야.

We can leave in another 30 minutes. It’s extremely close.

 

[3] 

Q : 넌 시부모님이랑 같이 안 살아서 좋겠다.

Q: It would be good for you not to live with your in-laws.

A : 같이 사는거나 다름없어. 엎어지면 코 닿을 데 사시거든.

A: It's the same as living with them, they're living super close.

 

[4] 

Q : 어두워서 무서워. 나 좀 집까지 데려다 줘.

Q: I'm scared because it's dark. Please take me home.

A : 헛소리한다! 엎어지면 코 닿을 거리잖아!

A: Bullshit! You're living a stone's throw from here!

 

[5] 

Q : 이 아파트 사세요! 지하철역에서 엎어지면 코 닿을 거리예요!

Q : Buy this apartment, It’s a stone’s throw from a subway station!

A : 아니, 여보세요! 도보 15분이 어떻게 엎어지면 코 닿을 거리예요?

A : Hey, excuse me? How is a 15-minute walk a stone’s throw?

 

If this post was helpful to you, please leave a comment.

It will be a great motivation for me to continue this Korean Idiom series.

Everyday life Korean idiom : What does 콩밥 먹다 mean? The origin and realistic example sentences!

Like every other language, Korean has tons of fun and witty idiomatic expressions.

The question that can arise when learning Korean idioms on your own is, "But do native Korean speakers actually use these expressions in everyday life?".

So here's a heads up. I guarantee that the Korean idioms I introduce in this blog are only the ones that are actually very common among the many Korean idioms.

Today, we're going to learn "콩밥 먹다" as an idiomatic expression in Korean.

First, let's break down the words that make up the phrase "콩밥 먹다".

콩 : beans

밥 : rice or cooked rice(=Bop)

먹다 : eat

So the sentence "콩밥 먹다" is literally "Eating rice cooked with beans."

To fully explain this idiom, we need to look back a bit into the past of Korea.

Unlike today's Korea, which has made remarkable progress in many aspects, just a few decades ago, the country's economy was not doing well and many Koreans did not have enough to eat.

As you may know, the staple food of Koreans is rice (Bap=cooked rice), and in the past, rice production was not sufficient, so when making Bop, people would add various grains like barley, corn, etc (often cheaper than rice) to the rice to increase the amount.

(Of course, many Koreans still eat bean-rice today. But it’s not because it's cheaper than rice, but because it's better for you nutritionally because it contains a lot of protein, or because they enjoy the flavor of the beans themselves).

OK, let's go back to Korea in the past.

In terms of cost, there was a fact that bean-rice was cheaper than pure rice.

So there's a story that in the past, prisoners in Korean jails were given bean-rice.

They needed rice because the prisoners also needed to eat, but the government couldn't give them pure rice because they wanted to minimize the amount of tax money that went to the prisoners.

Okay, don't want to read anymore because it was too long?

We're getting close. Read a little more, we're almost to the end.

I haven’t been in prison so far, so I can't attest to this with certainty, but what I do know about whether or not South Korean prisons still serve bean-rice to inmates is that the answer is "no".

Actually, In the current situation in South Korea, there is too much rice left over to dispose of.

We're either producing too much rice or we're not consuming enough rice to warrant a campaign to consume more rice.

So it's actually necessary to increase rice consumption by providing pure rice to prison inmates.

Now, finally, the conclusion.

The Korean idiom "콩밥 먹다" means "to live in prison for a crime".

Despite the fact that prisoners are no longer fed bean-rice in jail in Korea, this idiom is still commonly used in everyday Korean life.

Here are some realistic examples.

[1] 당장 내 돈 갚아! 콩밥 먹고 싶어?!!

Pay me back my money now! Do you want to eat bean-rice?!!

[2] 너 사람들한테 사기쳤지? 콩밥을 먹어봐야 정신을 차리지! 

You've been scamming people, haven't you? You'll only come to your senses when you eat bean-rice! 

[3] 저 사람 조심해. 옛날에 콩밥 먹은 적 있대.

Be careful with that guy, he's had bean-rice before.

As you can see above, I'm considering making a series of posts explaining Korean idioms.

If your response to this post is good, I'll do it with enthusiasm. If this post was helpful to you, please leave a comment, it will be a great motivation.