불난 집에 부채질한다

Add Fuel to the Flames

By Harsh Kumar Mishra

The Conversation

네하: 마지막으로 맛있는 음식을 먹은 게 언제인지 기억조차 안 나요.

Neha: I can’t even remember the last time I ate something delicious.

정민: 진짜? 시내 식당 가자. 오늘 맛있는 삼겹살 사 줄게. Jeongmin: Really? Let’s go to a downtown restaurant. I’ll buy you delicious samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly).

네하: 언니!! 지금 불난 집에 부채질해요?

Neha: Eonni!! Are you trying to add fuel to the flames?

정민: 왜? 내가 뭐 잘못 말했어?

Jeongmin: Why? Did I say something wrong?

네하: 내가 채식주의자이잖아요. 어떻게 삼겹살 먹을 수 있어요?

Neha: I am vegetarian, you didn’t know that! How can I eat samgyeopsal?

정민: 아 미안해. 나는 네하가 채식주의자인 줄 정말 몰랐어. Jeongmin: Oh, I’m sorry! I really didn’t know you’re a vegetarian.

네하: 괜찮아요, 언니. 사과할 필요 없어요. Neha: It’s okay, Eonni. You don’t have to apologize.

정민: 그래. 그럼 사과 대신 인도 음식 쏠까?

Jeongmin: Okay. Then shall I buy you Indian food instead of apologizing?

Grammar

~조차: This postposition is attached to nouns to emphasize inclusion of extreme situations that are even difficult to anticipate. When simply put, this can be related with English’s “not even…” and is used usually in negative sentences.

Example:

오늘 일하느라 너무 바빠서 물조차 마시지 못했어요. I was so busy working today that I didn’t even have a glass of water.

불난 집에 부채질한다: This witty Korean proverb, literally means to “fan a house on fire” and is used to describe a situation when something is making a situation worse instead of helping it out. This proverb is somewhat like English’s “add fuel to the flames/fire” proverb.

Example: 그녀한테 소리치지 말라고 하는 것은 불난 집에 부채질하는 것 뿐이었다. Telling her not to shout was merely like adding fuel to the fire (i.e., it made her angrier).

The Author

Harsh Kumar Mishra is a linguist and Korean language educator. He volunteers with TOPIKGUIDE.com and Learnkorean.in. He has also co-authored the book Korean Language for Indian Learners.