Korean Mouth Idioms | Body Part Korean Idioms
- KSJ 쌤
- Dec 1, 2025
- 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!
입이 가볍다
literal translation: a light mouth
meaning: talk too much
EX). 그 사람은 입이 가벼워서 비밀을 못 지켜.
That person has a loose mouth and can't keep secrets.
입이 무겁다
literal translation: a heavy mouth
meaning: keep secrets well
EX). 나는 입이 무거우니까 걱정하지 마.
I'm good at keeping secrets, so don't worry.
입이 모으다
literal translation: to gather mouths
meaning: everyone agrees
EX). 모두가 입을 모아 칭찬했어.
Everyone praised in unison.
입이 심심하다
literal translation: mouth is bored
meaning: craving snacks
EX). 배는 안 고픈데 입이 심심해.
I'm not hungry, but I want to snack.
입에 침이 마르다
literal translation: mouth is dry
meaning: overpraising
EX). 그녀는 친구를 입에 침이 마르도록 칭찬했어.
She praised her friend endlessly.
입에 발린 말
literal translation: apply words to mouth
meaning: insincere flattery
EX). 그건 그냥 입에 발린 말이야.
That's just sweet talk.
입이 떨이지지 않다
literal translation: mouth doesn’t drop
meaning: too shocked to speak
EX). 나는 입이 무거우니까 걱정하지 마.
I'm good at keeping secrets, so don't worry.
입이 짧다
literal translation: a small mouth
meaning: picky eater
EX). 그 아이는 입이 짧아서 편식해.
That kid is a picky eater, he only eats what he wants.
입이 밖에 내다
literal translation: put outside the mouth
meaning: say out loud
EX). 그 말을 입 밖에 내지 마!
Don’t say that out loud!
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”.
Thanks for reading through this lesson. That’s all for today!
I have selected 3 “related” posts below that you might like to check out next.
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