help with colloquial expressions

[mishio]

gosh...i seem to be hitting a bunch of blocks with my studies lately...so many questions!

anyway, does any kind soul out there know what is the best reference for looking up Korean colloquial expressions? I've searched the usual suspects - yahoo, naver, etc. and cannot find my answers.

separately, does anyone know off hand exactly what these expressions mean?


"발 삗고 자 다"

"빌 등에 불붙다"

I can string the parts together and come up with a general idea....but I am not certain. AIYO....this is for my other class and my homework was due.....yesterday!

Seriously, if someone can suggest a good search engine or method to figure this way out, please share. I have a feeling my class will present further challenges........

[manyakumi]

발 뻗고 자다
to sleep stretching one's legs
= to feel free from any stresses.

This phrase can be used when someone is out of his/her stresses that had bothered him/her for a long time.

빚을 다 갚아서 이제 발 뻗고 잘 수 있겠네요.
Now I can sleep freely since I paid all of my debt.


발등에 불붙다
= 발등에 불이 떨어지다
to get a fire on one's foot

This can be used when someone faces his/her due very close and got to be hurry.

그는 꼭 발등에 불이 떨어져야 급하게 일을 하는 나쁜 습관이 있어요.
He has a bad habit for doing his work in a hurry right in front of his due date.


I'm sorry for my bad English though,
Hope this helps!

[matthew254]

anyway, does any kind soul out there know what is the best reference for looking up Korean colloquial expressions?

other than a native speaker, the closet reference guide I found is a book called "Looking for a Mr. Kim in Seoul" http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Mr-Kim-Se ... 560&sr=8-3

something online though? not sure exactly...

[mishio]

Hi manyakumi
Oh..now I understand. Thanks (!) so much for your great explanations - not only were they clear, your English is also superb. No worries

re: 발등에 불붙다 - to light a fire under someone's foot.
It is interesting & funny to me how, in English, we light a fire under someone's bottom rather than their foot. Wonder what works better to get one to work faster?

Hi matthew354
Thanks for the reference link. Regardless of the educational content, sure sounds lke it is a great read from a cultural perspective. Will surely check into this -Thanks again for your kind help!



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[manyakumi]

re: 발등에 불붙다 - to light a fire under someone's foot.
It is interesting & funny to me how, in English, we light a fire under someone's bottom rather than their foot. Wonder what works better to get one to work faster?

Wow.. thanks for the correction!
Yeah, it's very interesting to find the differences between two languages about the same expression.


PS.
Actually, it's more like "to be lighten a fire" than "to light a fire", I guess.
"to light" is supposed to be translated as "불붙이다" and it feels like someone lights a fire on his/her own purpose.
And 발등 means 'the upper side of one's foot', opposite to 발바닥.
Just for your vocabularies.

[mishio]

hi again manyakumi !

oh...I wasn't trying to correct you at all
but the clarification helped me understand better now.

Thanks again!!