등신

Korean

Etymology

    Sino-Korean word from 等 (“equate”) + 神 (“deity; spirit”), originally referring to a figurine of a spirit or goblin. The meaning appears to have changed because these figurines were perceived as being unable to do anything (Cho Hang-bum 2019, pp. 158—159).

    Pronunciation

    • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [ˈtɯ(ː)ŋɕʰin]
    • Phonetic hangul: [등(ː)신]
      • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.
    Romanizations
    Revised Romanization?deungsin
    Revised Romanization (translit.)?deungsin
    McCune–Reischauer?tŭngsin
    Yale Romanization?tūngsin

    Noun

    등신 • (deungsin) (hanja 等神)

    1. (slang) fool, idiot [since 1920s]
      Synonyms: 바보 (babo), 병신 (byeongsin, more vulgar)
    This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.