Badass Korean — As Much as a Rat’s Tail

깝치다

[ggap-chi-da]

to fool around, clown around or goof off

Meaning & context

까불다, 깝죽거리다와 비슷한 의미로 경망스럽고 방정맞은 행위를 이르는 말. 일제 강점기에 쓰여진이상화시인의봄에관한시, ‘빼앗긴들에도봄은오는가’에서도다루어진표현이다.

Similar to gabulda (까불다) or gapjukgorita (깝죽거리다) and meaning to behave flippantly or act rashly, this was coined by the poet Lee SangHwa (이상화) in a poem about spring, called “bbaeatgil deulaedo bomeun oneunga” (빼앗긴 들에도 봄은 오는가) during the Japanese occupation – described here.

From As Much as a Rat’s Tail · book pages 35–35. Original published text; historical references and usage are retained.

STORY TIME

See it in conversation

Korean

나비와 제비

English

The Swallow and the Butterfly

ChangHyun

시우야 저 계집애 어때? 번호나 따올까?

창현

Hey SiWoo, how about that chick? Should I get her number?

SiWoo

“나비 제비야 깝치지 마라 / 맨드래미 들마꽃에도 인사를 해야지”

시우

“Hey butterfly, hey swallow, don’t ggapchida. You have to say hello to the cockscomb in the field.”

ChangHyun

뭐라고? 또 미친 시적인 소리 하고 있네!

창현

What did you say? Again with the crazy poetry talk!

SiWoo

알았어, 내가 쉽게 말해줄게. 깝치지 말고 다시 들어가서 공부나 하자.

시우

All right, I’ll put it to you in plain words. . . . Instead of ggapchida, let’s go back in and study.

From the book: notes & culture

The Straight Scoop

KkyaTalk refers to KakaoTalk, the Korean smartphone, free messenger app equivalent to WhatsApp. ;;; – a way of texting that you are annoyed with someone.

헐 [heol] OMG; oops; tisk; whatever. See page 228 for more information.

As Much as a Rat’s Tail

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