Thursday, November 29, 2018

What does 방약무인 mean?

ANSWER: arrogance, insolence, overbearance

방약무인 (傍若無人) literally means [at one's] side (傍), as if (若) there are no (無) people (人) [there]. This is equivalent to the Korean phrase "옆에 사람 없는 것 처럼" (as if there are no people nearby).

People tend to be more humble and reserved in front of other people, but there are some people who act arrogantly and do as they please even in front of other people. If you see such a person, you could whisper to your friend, "저 사람은 방약무인한 짓을 한다," which could be translated as, "That guy is being a jerk."

A similar phrase with the same meaning is 안하무인 (眼下無人), which literally means [he acts as if] under [his] eyes (眼下), there are no (無) people (人).

1 comment:

  1. Great post, Gerry! That makes 방약무인 so much easier to remember. I love these posts where you break down the 한자 behind words!

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