금수저

Korean

Etymology

금(金) (geum, “gold”) +‎ 수저 (sujeo, “cutlery; spoon and chopsticks”), the figurative sense probably by analogy from 은(銀)수저 (eunsujeo, “silver spoon”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [kɯmsʰud͡ʑʌ̹]
• Phonetic hangul: [금수저]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	geumsujeo
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	geumsujeo
McCune–Reischauer?	kŭmsujŏ
Yale Romanization?	kumswuce

Noun

금수저 • (geumsujeo)

1. (literally) a golden spoon and chopsticks
2. (figurative) the high upper class, the wealthy and privileged

   Coordinate terms: 은수저 (eunsujeo, “silver spoon”), 동수저 (dongsujeo, “bronze spoon”), 흙수저 (heuksujeo, “dirt spoon”)

Related terms

• 수저계급론 (sujeogyegeumnon, “spoon theory”)