Lesson-2-눈-第二部分

This is Part 2 of the Advanced Idiomatic Expressions lessons related to 눈, the eyes! 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

In Part 1, you learned the following expressions: (See Level 8 Lesson 1)
1. 눈이 높다 = to be picky
2. 눈 밖에 나다 = to get on one’s bad side
3. 눈을 붙이다 = to get some sleep; to take a nap
4. 눈빛만 봐도 알 수 있다 = can know with just one glance
5. 눈앞이 캄캄하다 = to not know where to start; to have no hope
6. 눈썰미가 좋다 = to learn things quickly; to pick things up quickly

Part 2

7. 눈에 넣어도 아프지 않다 = to be the apple of one’s eye
넣다 = to put in
아프다 = to hurt
아프지 않다 = to not hurt

눈에 넣다 literally means “to put something into one’s eyes”, like eye drops, however it is part of 눈에 넣어도 아프지 않다, which literally means, “Someone is so precious that it will not hurt even if you put him/her into your eyes.” It might be a bit strange to think about the literal meaning of this sentence, so think of it more as “being the apple of one’s eye / not hurting to look at someone”. This is usually used toward children or when talking about someone you think is attractive.

Ex)
아이들은 그 나이 때 정말 귀여워서 눈에 넣어도 아프지 않아요.
= Kids at that age are so cute that they are the apple of your eye.

8. 눈에 띄다 = to be difficult to miss; to stand out
띄다 = to be spotted

The verb 띄다 itself means to be spotted, but it is almost always used with the noun 눈 to form the phrase 눈에 띄다. When you say that something or someone is 눈에 띄다, it not only means that it catches your eye and is remarkable, but it can also mean that something is difficult to miss because it is either very good or terrible. When someone’s fashion stands out because it is either amazing or weird, you can say 눈에 띄는 패션, and when someone’s Korean speaking skills have improved a lot, you can say that the person’s Korean has, “눈에 띄게 늘었어요.”

Ex)
한국어 어떻게 공부해요? 실력이 눈에 띄게 늘었어요!
= How do you study Korean? Your Korean skills have improved so much!
경은 씨는 눈에 띄게 예쁜 사람이에요.
= Kyeong-eun is an outstandingly beautiful person.

9. 눈을 마주치다 = eyes meet
마주치다 = to run into each other; to bump into each other
치다 = to hit someone

마주치다 means “to bump into” or “to run into someone” by chance. When you use this verb with 눈, it means that two people’s eyes meet. When you say 눈을 마주치다, 눈 is the object of the verb 마주치다; you can also say 눈이 마주치다, with 눈 as the subject of the verb 마주치다.

Ex)
둘이 눈을 마주치고 웃었어요.
= The two people’s eyes met and they smiled.
그 사람하고 눈이 마주쳤는데, 창피해서 고개를 돌렸어요.
= My eyes met his, and I felt embarrassed so I looked away.

10. 눈이 멀다 = to be blinded by something
눈이 멀다 = to go blind

Here, the verb 멀다 sounds the same as the verb for “to be far away”, but when 멀다 is used with 눈, it means that your eyes are temporarily blinded by something. This expression is often used with the thing that caused you to be blinded in the form of “Noun + - 에 눈이 멀다”.

Ex)
그 사람은 욕심에 눈이 멀었어요.
= He is blinded by his greed.

This phrase could mean to go blind, but there are other, more common expressions for that.

Ex)
시력을 잃다 = to lose one’s eyesight
눈이 안 보이다 = to not be able to see

11. 눈이 부시다 = to be radiant
눈이 부시다 = to be dazzling; to be too bright

눈이 부시다 means that something is so bright that you cannot open your eyes to look at it directly. You can use this expression to talk about light, but you can also say this about someone’s looks.

Ex)
눈이 부시게 아름다워요.
= Your beauty is dazzling.

12. 눈 하나 깜짝하지 않다 = to not bat an eye
하나 = one
깜짝하다 = to blink

When someone is not surprised or affected by a threatening or shocking remark or action, you can say that the person does not even blink at it. You can use the expression 눈 하나 깜짝하지 않다, or 눈 하나 깜짝 안 하다.

Ex)
그 사람은 그런 말을 들어도 눈 하나 깜짝하지 않을 거예요.
= Even if you tell him that, he would not bat an eye.

A similar expression is 눈 깜짝할 사이에, which means “in the blink of an eye”.
사이 = a period of time

Ex)
눈 깜짝할 사이에 일을 다 끝냈어요.
= In the blink of an eye, they finished all the work.

* When Koreans actually want to say “to blink”, they use the expression 깜빡이다 rather than 깜짝하다.