Professors' Choice for This Year's Four-Character Idiom: Naeronambul and the Sino-Korean Word 'Ashitabi'

Survey of 906 People
32.4% Record
Hu-an-mu-chi 21.8% Intensified Itching 16.7%

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] The four-character idiom of the year chosen by professors is "Ashitabi (我是他非)." It means "I am right, others are wrong," a newly coined term translating the Korean phrase "naeronambul" into Chinese characters.

According to a survey conducted by Professor Newspaper on 906 university professors nationwide, Ashitabi recorded the highest percentage at 32.4% as the four-character idiom of the year, announced on the 21st.

Ashitabi is closer to a neologism than a traditional four-character idiom. It started as an idiomatic expression criticizing double standards and became political rhetoric when Park Hee-tae, a New Korea Party lawmaker, mentioned it in the National Assembly plenary session in 1996. According to Professor Newspaper, under the Park Geun-hye administration, it was used as the abbreviation "naeronambul," and its usage surged after the Moon Jae-in administration began and during last year's so-called "Cho Kuk incident." The term Ashitabi was coined around this time. It was created by selecting Chinese characters to correspond to the four syllables of "naeronambul," which had come to be used like a four-character idiom.

Following that, "Huanmuchi (厚顔無恥)," meaning shameless and brazen, accounted for 21.8%, and "Gyeokhwosoyang (隔靴搔痒)," meaning scratching the sole of the foot while wearing shoes, expressing frustration or incomplete efforts, accounted for 16.7%.

Other idioms included "Cheopcheopsanjung (疊疊山中)," meaning a mountain range with many overlapping mountains, at 12.7%; "Cheonhakjieo (泉?之魚)," meaning fish in a drying spring helping each other by spitting water, at 8.1%; and "Junggusakgeum (衆口?金)," meaning the power of public opinion that can even melt metal, at 8.0%.

Professor Jung Tae-yeon of the Department of Psychology at Chung-Ang University, who recommended Ashitabi, said, "The attitude of 'I am right and the other is wrong' embodied in Ashitabi hinders rather than helps problem-solving." He pointed out, "From the majority party's perspective, decision-making based on the principle of majority rule represents the people's will, but from the minority party's perspective, it is an abuse of power and dictatorship."

Professor Choi Jae-mok of the Department of Philosophy at Yeungnam University also said, "This year, the political sphere was sharply divided into two camps, ruling and opposition, attacking each other over every issue and blaming the other side for mistakes. I thought this situation persisted." He added, "The divisive, all-or-nothing, and exhausting political struggle based on ideology must now be healed through cooperative and hopeful discourse."

Meanwhile, the four-character idiom selected last year was "Gongmyeongjijo (共命之鳥)," meaning a bird with two heads sharing one body.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.