Sino-Korean word from 類類相從 (“same kinds follow each other”), possibly coined in Korea as a Classical Chinese sentence.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): proverbs
• Phonetic hangul:
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

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1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese) birds of a feather flock together

Sino-Korean word from 光陰似箭, from the phrase 但見時光流似箭 (literally, "surely time and tide flow like an arrow"), as versed by Wei Zhuang (Tang Dynasty, c. 836-910) in his poem 《關河道中》.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): proverbs
• Phonetic hangul:

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1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese) time flies like an arrow (literally, time and tide are like an arrow)

• 시광유사전 (時光流似箭, sigwang'yusajeon) (original)
• 광음여전 (光陰如箭, gwang'eumyeojeon)

• 광음여류 (光陰如流, gwang'eumyeoryu)
• 세월여류 (歲月如流, seworyeoryu)

• 세월부대인 (歲月不待人, sewolbudaein) time and tide wait for no man.
• 세월불요인 (歲月不饒人, sewolburyoin) time and tide are generous to no man.
• 천지불인 (天地不仁, cheonjiburin) nature is not merciful.

Sino-Korean word from 歲月不待人, from a verse by the fifth-century Chinese poet Tao Yuanming.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): proverbs
• Phonetic hangul:
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

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1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese) time and tide wait for no man

• 세월은 사람을 기다려 주지 않는다 (seworeun sarameul gidaryeo juji anneunda)

• 세월여류 (歲月如流, seworyeoryu)
• 광음사전 (光陰似箭, gwang'eumsajeon)

• 세월은 사람을 기다리지 않는다 (seworeun sarameul gidariji anneunda)

Calque of 세월부대인(歲月不待人) (sewolbudaein), ultimately from a verse of the fifth-century Chinese poet Tao Yuanming.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): proverbs
• Phonetic hangul:
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

세월은 사람을 기다려 주지 않는다 • (sewor-eun saram-eul gidaryeo juji anneunda)

1. time and tide wait for no man

• 세월부대인 (歲月不待人, sewolbudaein)

• 세월여류 (歲月如流, seworyeoryu)
• 광음사전 (光陰似箭, gwang'eumsajeon)

Sino-Korean word from 易地思之, from the fourth-century BC Chinese text Mencius, one of the Four Books of the Confucian canon.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): proverbs
• Phonetic hangul:

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1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese) thinking from the other person's perspective

   Antonym: 아전인수(我田引水) (ajeoninsu)

• 역지즉개연 (易地則皆然, yeokjijeukgaeyeon)

• 새옹실마 (塞翁失馬, sae'ongsilma)
• 인간만사 새옹지마 (人間萬事 塞翁之馬, in'ganmansa sae'ongjima)

See 塞翁失馬，焉知非福／塞翁失马，焉知非福 (sàiwēng shī mǎ, yānzhī fēi fú), the Chinese chengyu source.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): proverbs
• Phonetic hangul:

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1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese) human destiny being unpredictable

   Synonym: 전화위복(轉禍爲福)

Sino-Korean word from 賊 (“bandit”) + 反 (“rather”) + 荷 (“wields”) + 杖 (“rod”). A native Korean chengyu, first attested in the 1678 essay collection 순오지 (旬五志, sunoji) but in a context that implies that the saying was already common.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): proverbs
• Phonetic hangul:

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1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese) victim-blaming by the guilty party

• 주객전도 (主客顚倒, jugaekjeondo)

Sino-Korean word from 自求多福, from the Classic of Poetry, a collection of ancient Chinese poems from the early first millennium B.C.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): proverbs
• Phonetic hangul:

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1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese) heaven helps those who help themselves

다다익선

Sino-Korean word from 見蚊拔劒 (“to see a mosquito and draw a sword”).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): proverbs
• Phonetic hangul:
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

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1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese) making a mountain out of a molehill

   Synonyms: 노승발검(怒蠅拔劒), 침소봉대(針小棒大)

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): proverbs
• Phonetic hangul:
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

모르는 것이 약이다 • (moreuneun geos-i yag-ida)

1. "not knowing is the cure/medicine"; ignorance is bliss

• 백문이 불여일견 (baengmuni buryeoilgyeon)

Sino-Korean word from 百聞不如一見 (“hearing a hundred times is no better than seeing once”), from the ancient Chinese history Book of Han.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): ~
• Phonetic hangul:

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1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese) seeing is believing

Sino-Korean word from 針小棒大 (“ the smallness of a needle the largeness of a club”).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): proverbs
• Phonetic hangul:
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

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1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese) speaking with great exaggeration

   Synonyms: 견문발검(見蚊拔劒), 노승발검(怒蠅拔劒)

Native Korean, literally meaning "rats hear nighttime talks and birds hear daytime talks"

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): proverbs
• Phonetic hangul:

밤말은 쥐가 듣고 낮말은 새가 듣는다 • (bammar-eun jwi-ga deutgo nanmar-eun sae-ga deunneunda)

1. walls have ears

• The order of bam "nighttime" before nat "daytime" accords with 밤낮 (bamnat) "night and day" and 음양 (陰陽, eumyang) "yin and yang, dark and light," better than the alternative form vice versa.

• 낮말은 새가 듣고 밤말은 쥐가 듣는다 (nanmareun saega deutgo bammareun jwiga deunneunda)

From "超曰 不入虎穴 不得虎子," literally, "Ban Chao said that no tiger's den entered, no tiger's cub gathered," as recorded in "Biographies of Ban Chao and Liang Jin" ^[1] of Book of the Later Han^[2] Volume 47.^[3]

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1. (the notion of) nothing ventured, nothing gained; (the notion of) no pain, no gain^[4]

• 호혈호자 (虎穴虎子, hohyeolhoja)
• 불입호혈 언득호자 (不入虎穴 焉得虎子, buriphohyeol eondeukhoja)

• 범굴에 들어가야 범을 잡는다 (beomgure deureogaya beomeul jamneunda)

• 자구다복 (自求多福, jagudabok)

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): proverbs
• Phonetic hangul:

빈 수레가 요란하다 • (bin sure-ga yoranhada)

1. empty vessels make the most sound, that is, "noisy, opinionated people are often stupid."

• 빈 달구지가 요란하다 (bin dalguji-ga yoranhada)

• 입향수속(入鄕隨俗) (iphyangsusok)

Sino-Korean word from 入 (“enter”) + 鄉 (“countryside”) + 循 (“follow”) + 俗 (“custom”), paraphrased from the second-century BC Chinese essay collection Huainanzi.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): proverbs
• Phonetic hangul:

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1. (the fact that) a traveler ought to follow local traditions; (the fact that one must,) when in Rome, do as the Romans do

• (when in Rome, do as the Romans do):, 입경문금(入境問禁) (ipgyeongmun'geum), 입국문금(入國問禁) (ipgungmun'geum)

Native Korean 아는 + 것 + 이 + 탈. Literally, "Knowledge is evil."

아는 것이 탈 • (aneun geosi tal)

1. folly to be wise, ignorance is bliss.

• Korean usage takes it that inaccurate, incomplete, or partial knowledge may well give way to agony, hence better to be ignorant, without any irony.^[1]

• 아는 게 탈 (aneun ge tal)

Native Korean, literally meaning "What could have been stopped using a short-handled hoe is now being stopped with a shovel."

호미로 막을 것을 가래로 막는다 • (homiro mageul geoseul garaero mangneunda)

1. a stitch in time saves nine.

"커지기 전에 처리하였으면 쉽게 해결되었을 일을 방치하여 두었다가 나중에 큰 힘을 들이게 된 경우를 비유적으로 이르는 말."