점입가경

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 漸入佳境 (“to gradually enter a beautiful scene”), from an episode in the seventh-century Chinese history Book of Jin concerning the famous painter Gu Kaizhi.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈt͡ɕɘ(ː)mip̚k͈a̠ɡjʌ̹ŋ]
• Phonetic hangul: [저(ː)밉까경]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	jeomipgagyeong
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	jeom'ibgagyeong
McCune–Reischauer?	chŏmipkagyŏng
Yale Romanization?	cēm.ipkakyeng

Noun

점입가경 • (jeomipgagyeong) (hanja 漸入佳境)

1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese, originally sarcastic) the more you go, the more distasteful or repulsive it is

   죽었다는 사람이 또 나왔네? 진짜 이 드라마는 보면 볼수록 점입가경이다.

   jugeotdaneun saram-i tto nawanne? jinjja i deurama-neun bomyeon bolsurok jeomipgagyeong-ida.

   That person who's supposed to be dead has shown up again? Really, the more you watch this TV series, the more horrible it gets.

   오늘 국회에서 몸싸움한 거 봤어? — 참, 점입가경이다.

   oneul gukhoe-eseo momssaumhan geo bwasseo? - cham, jeomipgagyeong-ida.

   Did you watch them fight physically in the National Assembly? — Great, it's getting worse and worse.

   • 2020, “장제원 '친문 세력, 권력 안위 위한 발악 점입가경' [jangjewon chinmun seryeok, gwollyeok anwi wihan barak jeomipgagyeong]”, in Yonhap News Agency‎^[1]:

     여권 내 반발을 두고 이른바 친문 세력의 마지막 발악이 점입가경이라고 비난했습니다.

     Yeogwon nae banbar-eul dugo ireunba chinmun seryeog-ui majimak barag-i jeomipgagyeong-i-rago binanhaetseumnida.

     Concerning the opposition in the ruling party, he criticized it as the last-ditch efforts of so-called pro-Moon politicians only getting more and more disgusting.

2. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese, less common, original meaning) the more you go, the more interesting or appealing it is

Usage notes

False friends with Chinese, which retains only the original meaning.