[Korean Culture & Language] Stretch your legs after confirming that you can lie down

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Photo by pan xiaozhen on Unsplash

Koreans say “누울 자리 보고 발 뻗어라 (Stretch your legs after confirming that you can lie down“. It originally suggests that one should think about the consequences before doing something. It is more often used as: “don’t bite off more than you can chew,” “Know your place,” or “Cut your coat according to your cloth”.

Ex) 

A: “저 여자 너무 예쁘다. 가서 말 걸어 볼까? (She’s beautiful. Should I go talk to her?)”

B: “저 분 의사이기도 해. 그런데 너에게 너무 과분하지 않아? (She’s also a doctor. Isn’t she a little out of your league?”

A: “그래도 말은 한 번 해 볼 수 있잖아? (It wouldn’t hurt to have a conversation).” 

B. “맞아. 그래도 누울 자리 보고 발 뻗어. (Right. Just remember to know your place.)”


Some people, however, abuse this suggestion and “누울 자리 보고 발 뻗는다 (stretches their legs after confirming that they could lie down)”. For example, if A knows that B is a soft touch (confirmed that A could lie down), A takes advantage of B (stretches his legs on B). 

Ex)

C: “쟤 월세 계속 너가 내 줬어? (Have you been paying for his rent?)”

B: “응. (Yeah.)” 

C: “왜 그랬어? 너네 사귄지 3개월밖에 안됐잖아. 쟤가 돈이 없는 것도 아니고, 본인 월세는 본인이 내야지. (Why? You guys have only been dating for 3 months, and he’s not broke. He should be responsible for his own rent.)”

B: “한번 내 주다 보니까 계속 내주게 됐어 (I paid for it once and I became used to do so.)

C: 이 호구야. 걔도 누울 자리 보고 발 뻗은거야. (You’re such a soft touch. He stretched his legs after checking that he could lie down.)


Usually, it’s safe to stretch your legs after confirming that you could lie down. However, it would be selfish to take advantage of someone knowing that you could stretch your legs (knowing that someone is a soft touch). 

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