어쩌다 보니 (eo-jjeo-da bo-ni) – somehow (one thing led to another)… This is quite similar to 왠지, which essentially means the same thing, “somehow”. However, 어쩌다 보니 can be used to indicate that the outcome or current situation is a little…
향긋하다 (hyang-geu-ta-da) – aromatic, sweet There isn’t much special about this word but I learned about this while reading a Korean novel and just thought it would be nice to have another word to describe scents. The usual words you…
일손을 쉬다 (il-so-neul swi-da) – to take a break from work I’ve just learned about this word today while writing my blog post. I was thinking of how to say “take a break” but I didn’t specify “work”. Nevertheless, this…
~에 기인하다 (~e gi-in-a-da) – to be caused by/come from/originates from This phrase is used to explain causal relationships between two nouns. 기인 by itself means “cause”. Examples: 그 학생의 좋은 시험 결과는 열심히 공부하기에 기인하거든. That student’s good results…
Note that “생각이 나다” and “생각나다” very different from “생각을 하다” and “생각하다”. 생각이 나다 = 생각나다 (shorter form) 생각을 하다 = 생각하다 (shorter form and more commonly used) As you can see, one uses a subject marker and the other…
떠올리다 (ddeo-ol-li-da) – to remember/to think about This is quite different from 추억팔이, but more of “to remember/think about from memory”, or “plucking something from memory”. Another way of saying “to remember” about something from memory is “생각이 나다” or just…
타령 (ta-ryeong) – a series of statements or behaviours that constantly and persistently talk about or demand for something I found this word while doing the 36th TOPIK II 읽기 past year paper and wanted to share this. It’s a…
발 벗고 나서다 – throw oneself into a matter (with eagerness) This phrase is interesting because if you break it down, it makes perfect sense in a way. 발 = leg 벗다 = remove 발 벗다 = be barefooted 나서다…
여러모로 손쓰다 (yeo-reo-mo-ro son-sseu-da) – try every possible means/ways Previously, we looked at 여러모로 (in many various ways) and the uses of that phrase. Today we look at 여러모로 손쓰다, which literally means “use hands in many various ways” or “try every possible…
행보 (haeng-bo) – move (noun) This word might seem very simple but it’s quite interesting. According to the Naver dictionary, when used with “life” 인생 행보, it means “one’s walk of life”. While the translation seems weird, think of 행보…
