Expression of the Week

No Myung-hee: 아버지, 정말로 도경이를 버릴 수도 있다고요.

Father could really abandon Do-kyung.

Choi Jae-sung: 그러시겠지.

I’m sure he could.

No Myung-hee: 근데, 그렇게 입 다물고 있어요?

Then, why aren’t you saying anything?

남의 집 불구경해요? 

How can you just look on?  

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남의 집 불구경해요? (How can you just look on?)

남의 집 – someone else’s house

불 – fire

구경하다 – to watch, look on; to just see something, not pushing oneself forward

Casual – 남의 집 불구경해?

Semi-polite – 남의 집 불구경해요?

Polite – 가고 싶습니다 

>>”불구경하다” literally means to watch a scene of fire. However, it is most commonly used figuratively to leave something as it is, without interfering in it or helping with it. 

>>The expression is similar to the Korean idiom “강건너 불구경” which means to watch a scene of fire that is happening across the river. The expression is often used to criticize someone who doesn’t really care about what’s going on, although it should be of concern to them.