Korean Eye Idioms | Body Part Idioms in Korean

KSJ 쌤
Oct 24
2 min read

안녕하세요 여러분! Welcome or welcome back to Koreanstudyjunkie. I’m Junie 쌤.

This lesson we’re going to look at a few Korean idioms based on body parts.

Why Learn Idioms?

Idioms can really boost not only your comprehension in Korean, but make your Korean more colloquial and natural.

When you come across idioms like “발이 넓다” for example, you would be likely to translate it literally: "wide feet"

You would be completely lost as to why someone randomly said that your coworker has wide feet. But if you had been on your 'toes' learning these Idioms, you would immediately understand that they were saying that person has a lot of connections and knows many people.

Don't neglect idioms!

1). IDIOM: 눈이 높다

literal translation: high eyes

meaning: high standards

EX).

그녀는 눈이 높아서 아무나 안 만나요.

She has high standards and doesn't date just anyone.

제 친구는 눈이 높아서 연애하기가 힘들어요.

My friend has such high standards that dating is hard for her.

2). IDIOM: 눈이 낮다

literal translation: low eyes

meaning: low standards

EX).

눈이 낮아서 쉽게 만족해.

They have low standards and are easily satisfied.

나는 눈이 낮아서 아무 데서나 잘 자요.

I’m not picky—I can sleep anywhere.

3). IDIOM: 눈을 감다

literal translation: close one eye’s

meaning: to ignore; to pass away

EX).

할머니께서 눈을 감으셨어.

Grandmother passed away.

그는 실수를 보고도 눈을 감았다.

He saw the mistake, but ignored it.

이번 한 번만은 눈을 감아 줄게요.

I’ll overlook it just this once.

4). IDIOM: 눈이 띄다

literal translation: run to the eyes

meaning: to stand out

EX). 그녀의 빨간 드레스가 눈에 띄었어.

Her red dress really stood out.

그 사람은 키가 커서 멀리서도 눈에 띄어요.

He’s tall, so he stands out even from far away.

네가 입은 옷이 정말 눈에 띄네.

The outfit you’re wearing really stands out.

5). IDIOM: 눈이 빠지도록 기다리다

literal translation: wait until one’s eyes fall out

meaning: wait forever

EX).

택시를 눈이 빠지도록 기다렸어.

I waited forever for a taxi.

그녀의 전화를 눈이 빠지도록 기다리고 있어요.

I’m desperately waiting for her call.

택배가 언제 오나 눈이 빠지도록 기다렸어요.

I waited forever for my package to arrive.

I made a whole book full of idioms like this. Not only are there tons of idioms like these, but there are Korean quotes, proverbs, and even hundreds of phrases plus vocabulary included in it.

It’s called “300+ Common Korean Phrases, Quotes, & Idioms”.

See Pictures of It Here!

Thanks for reading through this lesson. That’s all for today!

If you scroll down, you can see other Idioms posts I made.