"Abusing Power and Running Wild"... This Year's Four-Character Idiom 'Doryangbalho'

"Power holders act as if they are the source of power"
"Pre-martial law survey matches current situation"
'Brazen' 'Seokseowiryeo' follow one after another

On the 7th, the day of the vote on the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol, citizens gathered in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, urging the impeachment of President Yoon. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

University professors nationwide selected the four-character idiom "Doryangbalho (跳梁跋扈)," which means "wielding power arbitrarily and acting recklessly," as the representative idiom of the year.

On the 9th, Professor Newspaper announced that, based on a survey conducted from the 25th of last month to the 2nd of this month targeting 1,086 professors, "Doryangbalho" ranked first as the idiom of the year with 41.4%. Professor Jeong Taeyeon of the Department of Psychology at Chung-Ang University, who recommended "Doryangbalho," said, "I recommended it as this year's idiom because those in power are acting as if they are the source of power."

'Doryangbalho' was selected as the top four-character idiom of the year by 1,086 university professors nationwide. Photo by Professor Newspaper

He pointed out, "Although the survey was conducted before the December 3 emergency martial law incident, it still fits the current situation well," adding, "Distorted power holders need to sober up from the intoxication of power." He also emphasized, "The worst case is the emergency martial law imposed late at night on the 3rd that struck the Republic of Korea. It is chilling and devastating that such barbaric acts are still possible in 21st-century Korea," and stressed, "Before the people who entrusted power reclaim it, many power holders in our society must sober up from the intoxication of power."

The idiom ranked second was "Huanmuchi (28.3%)," which means having a thick face and no shame. Following that, "Seokseowiryeo (18.5%)," meaning a mouse with a big head pretending to be knowledgeable that disrupts the country, ranked third.

Meanwhile, in 2016, when former President Park Geun-hye was impeached, the idiom chosen by professors as the idiom of the year was "Gunjuminsoo (君舟民水)." "Gunjuminsoo" means that the king is the boat, and the people are the water that floats the boat, but the water can also overturn the boat. On September 24 of last year, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, mentioned this on his social media account. Additionally, last year, the idiom "Gyeonrimangui (見利忘義)," meaning to forget righteousness when seeing profit, ranked first.

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