Lesson-1-눈-第一部分

Welcome to the first lesson in the Advanced Idiomatic Expression series! By studying with this series, you will learn many idiomatic expressions that are based on a certain Korean word and used in everyday Korean conversation. In order to fully understand and use the expressions introduced in this series, it is essential that you understand the grammatical structure of the sentence. When you come across a grammar point with which you are unfamiliar, please go back and review the related lessons.

Keyword:
눈 = eye

1. 눈이 높다 = to be picky
높다 = to be high / to have high standards
Synonym: 까다롭다

눈이 높다 literally means that your “eyes are high”, but in Korean, if you say that your eyes are 높다, it simply means that you have high standards for things or people. When someone is very picky about the type of person they want to date or the kind of things they want to buy, you can say 눈이 높다.

Ex)
저 눈 안 높아요. 저는 그냥 성격 좋은 사람이면 다 좋아요.
= I am not picky. Anyone who has a good personality is fine for me.

2. 눈 밖에 나다 = to get on one’s bad side
밖에 = outside of something
나다 = to get out, to be out

If you did something to make someone upset with you, and that person does not like you very much any longer, you may end up on their bad side.

In that case, you can say that you are “outside” someone’s eyes, meaning that the person will not help you or give you any support.

This expression is not usually used amongst friends; it is typically used by adults like teachers or bosses to students or employees.

Ex)
저는 지각을 많이 해서, 선생님 눈 밖에 났어요.
= I am frequently late, so my teacher does not like me [I got on my teacher’s bad side].

3. 눈을 붙이다 = to get some sleep; to take a nap
붙이다 = to paste; to glue things together

When you take a nap, you can use the expression 눈을 붙이다. The literal translation is “to glue one’s eyes together”, but it is actually closer in meaning to “gluing one’s eyelids shut”, meaning that one naps or sleeps. This phrase is not commonly used for sleeping at night.

Ex)
피곤하면 눈 좀 붙여요. 나중에 깨워 줄게요.
= If you are tired, get some sleep. I will wake you up later.

You can even say, “눈 좀 붙이고 올게요. (= I will go catch some sleep.)”

4. 눈빛만 봐도 알 수 있다 = can know with just one glance
빛 = light
보다 = to see
알다 = to know
만 = only

When you automatically know what a person wants or wishes to tell you just by looking at them, you can say 눈빛만 봐도 알 수 있다. The word 눈빛 does not literally refer to light that comes out of one’s eyes, but rather the way someone looks at something or the emotion that you can sense from looking at their eyes.

Ex)
말 안 해도, 눈빛만 봐도 알 수 있어요.
= Even if you do not say it, I know just by looking at your eyes.

5. 눈앞이 캄캄하다 = to not know where to start; to have no hope
앞 = front
캄캄하다 = to be dark; to be pitch black
Ex) 불을 끄면 캄캄해져요. = If you turn off the lights, it will be dark.

When it is dark, you might panic because you cannot see anything in front of you. When you are confronted with a situation where you do not know what to do or you cannot think of a way to get out of it, you can say 눈앞이 캄캄하다.

Ex)
눈앞이 캄캄했었는데, 석진 씨가 도와줬어요.
= I panicked because I did not know how to solve the problem, but then 석진 helped me.

6. 눈썰미가 좋다 = to learn things quickly; to pick things up quickly
좋다 = to be good

눈썰미 refers to the ability to learn or understand how something is done just by watching someone else doing it. For example, when someone learns how to cook a Korean dish mainly by watching others, or when someone picks up a dance move very quickly by imitating what they saw, you can say that the person has good 눈썰미.

Ex)
한 번만 보고 어떻게 따라 해요? 눈썰미가 좋으시네요!
= How do you follow the moves just by looking at them once? You pick up things very quickly!

센스가 있다 has a similar meaning but it is a bit broader. If you are quick to figure out what to do or have an innate sense or feel for something, people will say 센스가 있다.