막상

Korean

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ma̠ks͈a̠ŋ]
Phonetic hangul: [막쌍]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	maksang
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	magsang
McCune–Reischauer^?	maksang
Yale Romanization^?	mak.sang

Etymology 1

Related to 막 (mak, “abruptly”).

Adverb

막상 • (maksang)

really, actually, when you get around to doing it (often in opposition to a prior preconceived notion)
Synonym: 정작 (jeongjak)

막상 닥쳐 봐야 안다.
Maksang dakcheobwaya anda.
You need to actually face it to understand.

아무리 마음 을 먹어 도 막상 시작하려 하니 막막하다.
amuri ma'eum-eul meogeo-do maksang sijakharyeo hani mangmakhada.
No matter how much you've made up your mind, you feel lost when you get around to trying to start doing it.
- 19th century, The Tale of Shim Chong:
  ᄲᆡᆼ덕어미도 ᄉᆡᆼ각ᄒᆞᆫ직, 막상 ᄂᆡ가 ᄯᅡ러 가드ᄅᆡ도 잔ᄎᆡ의 참예ᄒᆞ 기 젼이 업고 도라온들 셩셰도 젼만 못ᄒᆞ고 […]
  Bbaengdeogeomido saenggakhanjik, maksang naega ttareo gadeuraedo janchaeui chamyeha[l] gi[l] jyeoni eopgo doraondeul syeongsyedo jyeonman mothago […]
  Bbaengdeokeomi thought too: "Even if I were to get around to following them there, there would be no way for me to be part of the celebrations; and even if I were to come back, my fortune would not be what it was before […] "
- 1929 January 24, “期(기)待(대)를 背(배)反(반) 平(평)凡(범)한 問(문)答(답) [Against Expectations, A Normal Questioning]”, in The Dong-a Ilbo:
  緊(긴)張(장)味(미)를 示(시)하얏는데 막상 開(개)幕(막)이 되자 尾(미)崎(기)氏(씨)의 質(질)問(문)도 平(평)平(평)凡(범)凡(범)한 것이오
  Ginjangmireul sihayanneunde maksang gaemaki doeja Migissiui jilmundo pyeongpyeongbeombeomhan geosio
  A tense atmosphere could be seen, but in reality when the questioning session opened, Mr. Ozaki's question was most exceedingly normal.
- 2017 March, “손톱 [sontop, Fingernail]”, in Munhak-gwa Sahoe:
  지금 매장 으로 옮길 때 는 출퇴근 이 얼마나 걸리든 돈 을 더 받는 게 무조건 낫다고 생각했다. 막상 다녀 보니 꼭 그렇지만 은 않았다.
  Jigeum maejang-euro omgil ttae-neun chultoegeun-i eolmana geollideun don-eul deo banneun ge mujogeon natdago saenggakhaetda. Maksang danyeoboni kkok geureochiman-eun anatda.
  When she had moved to her current store, she had thought that it was unconditionally better to have a higher pay, no matter how long the commute might take. Now that she was going there, that proved to not necessarily be the case.

Etymology 2

Sino-Korean word from 膜 (“membrane”) + 狀 (“shape”).

Noun

막상 • (maksang) (hanja 膜狀)

(biology) a membranous form