Vocabulary
소리를 지르다
verb
Beginner
to shout, to yell, to scream
emotions
길에서 갑자기 소리를 지르면 안 되지.
You shouldn't suddenly yell in the street.
태풍
noun
Beginner
typhoon; a tropical cyclone in East Asia
community
태풍 때문에 학교가 휴교했어.
School was closed because of the typhoon.
기다리다
verb
Beginner
to wait
community
거기서 기다릴 거면 문 좀 잡아 줘.
If you're going to wait there, hold the door for me.
진심
noun
Beginner
sincerity; one's true feelings or genuine heart
emotions family
농담이 아니라 진심으로 하는 말이야.
I'm not joking — I'm saying this from the heart.
단정 짓다
verb
Beginner
to conclude definitively; to judge or assume without full information
emotions
아직 얘기도 안 들었으면서 단정 짓지 마.
Don't jump to conclusions when you haven't even heard the story yet.
피하다
verb
Beginner
to avoid, to dodge, to escape from
emotions family
싸우고 싶지 않아서 집을 피해서 나왔어.
I left the house to avoid a fight.
급발진
noun
Intermediate
sudden overreaction; blowing up out of nowhere (originally a car term, now slang for emotional explosion)
emotions family
별거 아닌 일인데 왜 이렇게 급발진이야?
It's nothing serious — why are you blowing up like that?
버겁다
adjective
Intermediate
to be overwhelming, more than one can handle; to feel crushed under a burden
emotions family
일이 너무 많아서 요즘 진짜 버거워.
There's so much work lately — I'm really overwhelmed.
잔소리
noun
Intermediate
nagging; repeated lecturing or scolding, often from a spouse or parent
family community
엄마 잔소리 피하려고 일찍 나왔어.
I left early to avoid mom's nagging.
맞선
noun
Intermediate
a blind date arranged by a third party, typically for the purpose of marriage
family community
부모님이 맞선 한번만 봐 달라고 부탁했어.
My parents asked me to go on just one blind date.
청혼하다
verb
Intermediate
to propose marriage; to ask someone to marry you
family emotions
그 사람이 먼저 나한테 청혼했어.
That person proposed to me first.
덥석덥석
adverb
Intermediate
rashly grabbing or jumping onto things without thinking; impulsively and carelessly
emotions
모르는 사람 말을 덥석덥석 믿으면 안 되지.
You can't just naively believe everything a stranger says.
무리하다
verb
Intermediate
to overdo it; to push oneself too hard beyond one's limits
medical family
몸 안 좋을 때는 무리하지 마.
Don't overdo it when you're not feeling well.
보란 듯이
adverb
Advanced
in a way that shows everyone; triumphantly, so that others can see and take notice (often implying proving someone wrong)
emotions
나를 무시한 사람들한테 보란 듯이 성공하고 싶어.
I want to succeed triumphantly in front of all the people who looked down on me.
못할망정
expression
Advanced
even if one can't do (something good), at least don't do (something worse); a pattern expressing that failing to do a positive thing is bad enough, but doing something negative on top of it is worse
community emotions
도움은 못 해 줄망정 방해는 하지 마.
Even if you can't help, at least don't get in the way.
Key Expressions
Scolding or expressing alarm
너무한 거 아니야?
"Isn't this going too far?"
Used to protest when you feel someone has crossed a line or been unfair to you; a softer complaint than outright accusation.
말도 없이 그냥 가버리면 너무한 거 아니야?
Isn't it going too far to just leave without saying anything?
다칠 뻔했잖아!
"You almost got hurt, didn't you!"
Used to express relief mixed with alarm after a near-accident; the -뻔했다 pattern signals something nearly happened. The -잖아 ending implies the other person should already know this.
그 차 못 봤어? 지금 다칠 뻔했잖아!
Running around like that, you almost got hurt!
Making confessions or heartfelt admissions
여러모로 못난 [명사]이었어
"I was a poor/lacking [noun] in many ways"
A self-deprecating admission of failure in a role (husband, parent, friend). 못난 literally means 'ugly/inferior' but in this context means 'inadequate' or 'failing.' Emotionally heavy in Korean drama confessions.
나도 여러모로 못난 친구였어, 솔직히.
Honestly, I was a poor friend to you in many ways.
Pushing someone to confront a truth
인간 [이름] 어디 갔냐고
"Where did the human being [name] go?"
A pointed phrase contrasting someone's role/title (wife, mother) with their individual personhood. '인간' here means the person as a full human being, not just a function. Very impactful in arguments about identity and sacrifice.
엄마 역할만 하느라 인간 이수진 어디 간 거야?
You've been so busy playing 'mom' — where did the real person, Lee Su-jin, go?
Grammar Patterns
-ㄹ 거면 [V]든가
'If you're going to X, at least do Y' conditional
This pattern combines the conditional 'if you intend to / if you're going to' (-(으)ㄹ 거면) with the mild imperative -든가, which means 'why don't you at least...' or 'you could at least...' Together they express mild frustration or a challenge: 'if you plan on doing X anyway, you might as well do Y.' Common in casual speech between close speakers.
Practice sentences
볼 거면 같이 보든가, 왜 방해야?
If you're going to watch, at least watch with me — why are you interrupting?
안 먹을 거면 남겨 놓든가.
If you're not going to eat it, at least leave it for someone else.
💡 Don't confuse -든가 (mild suggestion/challenge) with -던가 (recalling past experience); the spelling and meaning are quite different.
-았/었을 만해
'It makes sense that [someone] would have felt/done [X]' — retrospective empathy
This pattern combines the past presumptive -았/었을 with 만하다 ('to be worth, to be understandable/reasonable'). Together they express that a past emotion or reaction was understandable or justified given the circumstances. Speakers use it to validate someone else's feelings from the outside.
Practice sentences
그 상황이면 화났을 만해, 당연하지.
In that situation, it makes sense she was angry — of course she was.
혼자 다 했으면 힘들었을 만해.
If she did everything alone, it makes sense she was exhausted.
💡 Be careful: -았/었을 만해 reflects on the past from now, while -ㄹ 만해 (without past tense) speaks about present or general situations. Don't drop the past marker.
-(으)ㄹ 거야 / -(으)ㄹ 텐데
Confident inference or supposition about someone's inner state
Both -(으)ㄹ 거야 and -(으)ㄹ 텐데 express the speaker's reasoned guess or inference, especially about how another person must be feeling or what must be true for them. -(으)ㄹ 텐데 carries a slightly more empathetic nuance, often implying 'given the circumstances, surely...' — used here when Du-sik pushes Geum-cheol to empathize with Yun-gyeong.
Practice sentences
혼자 기다렸을 테니까 많이 외로웠을 텐데.
She must have been very lonely waiting by herself all that time.
그 말 들었을 때 많이 상처받았을 거야.
She must have been really hurt when she heard that.
💡 -(으)ㄹ 텐데 often implies sympathy or a gentle nudge for the listener to consider something; -(으)ㄹ 거야 is more neutral inference. Both use the future/presumptive -(으)ㄹ, not the past form.
Cultural Notes
맞선 — arranged blind dates
맞선 refers to a formally arranged meeting between two single people, organized by parents, matchmakers, or mutual acquaintances with marriage in mind. Unlike a casual date, 맞선 carries social weight and often parental expectations. When Yeong-guk suggests Hwa-jeong go on one, it reflects a common Korean social expectation that divorced people should eventually remarry — but the suggestion from an ex-husband makes it painfully ironic, which is why Hwa-jeong pours out her coffee and tells him to leave.
인간 + [이름] — reclaiming personhood
In Korean, addressing someone as '인간 [name]' deliberately strips away all their social roles and titles to name them as a bare human individual. Du-sik's line '인간 함윤경 어디 갔냐고' is a culturally resonant critique: Korean society strongly defines women by their roles as wives and mothers, and Du-sik is pointing out that Yun-gyeong's individual identity has been swallowed up by those roles. This kind of framing appears frequently in Korean feminist discourse and emotionally impactful drama scenes.
생색 — the social sin of flaunting your kindness
생색 (生色, literally 'bringing out color/credit') refers to making sure others know about something nice you did — fishing for credit or gratitude. In Korean social culture, true generosity is supposed to be unassuming (겸손), so doing good deeds and then broadcasting them is considered embarrassing and self-serving. Hwa-jeong's 생색도 병이야 ('showing off your good deeds is practically a disease') is a gentle but cutting put-down of Yeong-guk's obvious pride in fixing the window — even as she smiles at it.
행주 care — domestic intimacy and memory
The scene in which Hwa-jeong recalls exactly how Yeong-guk left the kitchen — foam in the sink, towel twisted instead of spread flat — reflects a deeply Korean domestic intimacy. Remembering the specific, irritating habits of an ex-spouse is both funny and sad: it shows how deeply two people's daily lives become intertwined in a Korean household. The dishcloth (행주) is a small but loaded symbol of the domestic labor and attention that Hwa-jeong gave to a marriage that didn't reciprocate.