Friday, March 29, 2024
LANGUAGE&CULTURE

KOREAN IDIOMS to pound the rice cake

pound the rice cake

떡을 치다 POUND THE RICE CAKE

Rice cake idioms often seem to be related to MONEY or having enough to eat.

In the past when the country was poor most people couldn’t even get hold of rice never mind rice cakes which were considered a luxury. So if you had enough rice to pound into rice cake then you were doing very well indeed. Hence this idiom…

‘Do you think there’s enough food for the party?’

‘Enough? There’s enough to pound rice cake.’

In other words, there’s ‘more than enough’.

pound the rice cake

When we know how rice cake is made, the sexual meaning of the expression becomes pretty obvious…

Traditionally rice cakes were made by mixing rice flour with water and then hammering the dough to get the right chewy texture. (see my excellent illustration above)

This traditional method can still be seen at festivals and special events. The sound of the hammer smacking against the rice and the action of the hammer is similar to… well, I think you get the idea?

this book covers every idiom you will ever need to know…

One thought on “KOREAN IDIOMS to pound the rice cake

  • Hello, I am learning Korean languages these days, it’s really a beautiful language, but these are the idioms which are not easy to remember sometimes. Thanks for explaining this one.

    Freya, UK

    Reply

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