선무당이 사람 잡는다
Korean
[edit]Etymology
[edit]First appears in the chengyu-ized form 生巫殺人 in the 公私恒用錄/공사항용록 Gongsa hangyongnok, c. 1800, as an example of a native Korean proverb.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [ˈsʰɘ(ː)nmuda̠ŋi sʰa̠(ː)ɾa̠m t͡ɕa̠mnɯnda̠]
- Phonetic hangul: [선(ː)무당이 사(ː)람 잠는다]
- Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.
| Romanizations | |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization? | seonmudang'i saram jamneunda |
| Revised Romanization (translit.)? | seonmudang'i salam jabneunda |
| McCune–Reischauer? | sŏnmudangi saram chamnŭnda |
| Yale Romanization? | sēnmutangi sālam capnunta |
Proverb
[edit]선무당이 사람 잡는다 • (seonmudang-i saram jamneunda)
- "the novice shaman kills the person [that they were trying to heal]"; a little knowledge is a dangerous thing
- Synonym: 반풍수가 집안 망친다 (banpungsuga jiban mangchinda)
Related terms
[edit]- 선무당이 사람 속인다 (seonmudang'i saram soginda, “(of an incompetent person) to successfully trick someone into believing something”, literally “the novice shaman fools a person”)
- 선무당이 장구 탓한다 (seonmudang'i janggu tathanda, “(of a novice) to blame circumstances rather than one's own lack of practice”, literally “the novice shaman blames the drums”)