Talk To Me In Korean: “A Fish That Met Water”

There are a lot of interesting idiomatic expressions that stem from cultural backgrounds and are difficult to translate literally. Every month through this segment, you can read about some fun and useful Korean expressions, brought to you by TalkToMeInKorean.com.

물 만난 고기 :
[mul man-nan go-gi]
Literal translation: a fish that met water
Actual usage: be in your comfortable field, be like a fish in the water

물 [mul] means water and 만난 is the past tense of the verb “to meet.” 고기 [go-gi] in this case means “fish.” It can also be translated into “meat,” but here 고기 refers to 물고기, which means fish. So literally, this expression means “a fish that met water.” In English there is the expression: “fish out of water,” which means you are feeling uncomfortable in a certain situation by being away from your familiar surroundings. With this expression, however, the opposite is true. We know that fish are most comfortable in water. When you are good at something, you feel very comfortable doing it, and people can say that you are a 물 만난 고기. In English you could translate this as: “being in your element” or being good at what you are doing “like a fish in the water”. It is usually a sudden occurrence as in entering a certain field and suddenly feeling completely comfortable in it. For example, you might not have known that you were born to be a broadcaster, but then you try it out and feel completely at ease. You are in your element. If you have been doing something for a very long time and are good at it for that reason, you would usually not use this expression.

입이 짧다 :
[ib-i jjalb-da]
Literal translation: the mouth is short
Actual usage: to have a small appetite, to eat like a bird

입 [ib] is the mouth, and 짧다 [jjalb-da] means “to be short.” You cannot, however, literally have a “short mouth.” 입이 짧다 is an idiomatic expression and means that someone has a small appetite. In English you could also say “입이 짧아요” about someone who “eats like a bird.” If someone can never finish their meals and only eats a tiny amount each time, they are an 입이 짧은 사람, a person with a small appetite. In some cases it can also refer to picky eaters, because when you are picky about your food, you do not each much. You only choose the things you like, which is often the case with children. A lot of children can be 입이 짧은 children.