Body part idioms

Idioms related to body parts

간

간 is the liver.

• 간이 콩알만 해 지다. (be scared stiff, be terrified/I cringed and got sick to my stomach./I was walking alone last night and the cat came out of nowhere, I got the fright of my life!)
• 간이 배 밖에 나왔다 -
• 간에 기별도 안가다 - barely begin to satisfy one's hunger
• 간에 붙었다 쓸개에 붙었다 하다 - be fickle
• 간을 녹이다 - charm; fascinate; bewitch
• 간이 뒤집히다 - to rebuke someone for laughing without reason
• 간이 떨어지다 - to be suddenly surprised
• 간이 붓다 - to be uppity
• 간이 작은 - timid; faint-hearted
• 간이 철렁하다 - be shocked
• 간이 콩알만해지다 - to be frightened out of one's wits
• 간이 타다 - be anxious (for) / pine
• 간(을) 졸이다 - to worry oneself
• 간(이) 크다 - be plucky, courageous

가랑이

가랑이 is the crotch.

• 가랑이가 찢어지게 가난하다 - to suffer from extreme poverty

가슴

• 가슴에 맺히다 - to have vengence of fear knotting up inside you
• 가슴에 못을 박다 - to be hurt emotionally
• 가슴을 치다 - feel frustration; feel wronged
• 가슴을 태우다 - be very anxious
• 가슴이 내려앉다 - be greatly surprised; be startled
• 가슴이 덜컹하다 - be suddenly surprised or shocked
• 가슴이 미어지다 - be stricken with grief, pain, sadness, or emotion
• 가슴이 부풀다 - be buoyant (with)
• 가슴이 뿌듯하다 - be full of excitement and emotion
• 가슴이 아프다 - be hearted-broken
• 가슴이 찢어지다 - be heart-broken
• 가슴이 철렁하다 - be suddenly surprised or shocked
• 가슴이 후련하다 - feel relieved

간담

간담 (liver & gall bladder)

• 간담이 떨어지다 very surprised
• 간담이 서늘하다 be suddenly frightened

꼬리

꼬리 means tail.

• 쥐꼬리 - is a rat's tail and used for things that are really small, usually used in conjunction with the grammar 만 한.
  • 쥐꼬리만 한 월급 - a really small salary, getting paid peanuts.
  • 쥐꼬리만 한 돈 - a really small amount of money, chicken feed.

입

입 means mouth and sometimes lips.

• 입이 가볍다 - not good at keeping secrets, can't keep their mouth shut. literally means your lips are light.
• 입이 무겁다 - good at keeping secrets, holding your tongue. Literally means your lips are heavy.
• 입이 열 개라도 할 말이없다 - No words can justify my actions. Literally means even if I have ten mouths, I would have nothing to say.

눈

눈 means eye(s).

• 눈이 높다 - to have high standards, be picky
• 눈에 쌍심지를 켜다
• 눈에서 멀어지면 마음에서도 멀어진다 - out of sight, out of mind

머리

머리 is your head.

• 머리가 나쁘다 - to be stupid

불알

불알 means testical.

• 불알 친구 - this means a really close friend. (origin?)

속

• 속이 탄다 -

손

손 means hand

• 손바닥 보듯이 알다 - know something like the back of your hand. However the Korean version is actually says like the palm instead of the back of the hand. In many Asian cultures, people know their palms because the common belief that there's information of one's life in their palms, i.e. the length of the lines on one's palms shows how long a person will live.

쓸개

쓸개 means gallbladder.

• 간에 붙었다가 쓸개에 붙었다가 한다.

코

코 means nose.

혀

혀 means tongue.

• 혀가 꼬이다 -
• When you drink too much and you slur your words.
• Literally means one's tongue is tangled.

See also

• Body parts
• Body parts and actions