끝장

Korean

Etymology

끝 (kkeut, “end, final”) +‎ 장(張) (jang, “page (of a book), counter for paper”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [k͈ɯt̚t͡ɕ͈a̠ŋ]
• Phonetic hangul: [끋짱]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	kkeutjang
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	kkeutjang
McCune–Reischauer?	kkŭtchang
Yale Romanization?	kkuthcang

Noun

끝장 • (kkeutjang)

1. (literal) the final page
2. the very end, a final situation with nothing left
   • 2019, 이철희 [icheolhui, Yi Cheol-hui], “하노이 담판, 실패도 선택이다 [hanoi dampan, silpaedo seontaegida]”, in Donga Ilbo‎^[1]:

     북미 하노이 정상회담이 열흘 앞으로 다가왔다. […] 두고두고 후환을 남길 불완전한 합의보다는 끝장까지 가보는 '눈부신 실패'가 나을 수 있다.

     Bung-mi hanoi jeongsanghoedam-i yeolheul ap-euro dagawatda. [ … ] dugodugo huhwan-eul namgil burwanjeonhan habuiboda-neun kkeutjang-kkaji gaboneun nunbusin silpae ga na'eul su itda.

     The North Korea-United States Hanoi Summit is only ten days away. […] A "glorious failure" after trying to reach the very end [i.e. with nothing left open for discussion] may be preferable to an incomplete agreement whose negative repercussions will linger on and on.

3. a doomed situation

   창문 깬 거 엄마가 알면 우리 끝장이야.

   Changmun kkaen geo eomma-ga almyeon uri kkeutjang-iya.

   If Mom finds out that we broke the window, we're doomed.

Derived terms

• 끝장나다 (kkeutjangnada, “to be terminated, to be doomed”)
• 끝장내다 (kkeutjangnaeda, “to terminate, to doom”)