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.
