Lesson 1

This is an Advanced Idiomatic Expressions lesson related to 얼굴, face. In order to fully understand and use the expressions introduced in this series, it is essential that you understand the grammatical structure of the sentences. When you come across a grammar point that you are unfamiliar with, please go back and review the related TTMIK lessons.

Keyword: 얼굴 = face

1. 얼굴이 낯이 익다 = to look familiar
(낯이 익다 = to be familiar with)

Technically speaking, 얼굴 and 낯 both refer to the same thing, which is “one’s face”. However, 얼굴 is used in everyday speech, whereas 낯 is used more often as part of the idiomatic expressions “낯이 익다 (= to be familiar)” and “낯설다 (= to be unfamiliar)”. When you see someone who looks familiar or who you feel like you have met before, you can say, “얼굴이 낯이 익어요.”

Ex) 저 사람 제가 어디서 봤죠? 얼굴이 낯이 익어요.
= Where have I seen that person? He looks familiar.

2. 어디서 많이 본 얼굴이다 = to look familiar
(어디서 = somewhere)

Here, 어디서 does not mean “where”, but actually “somewhere”. The expression can be literally translated as “it is a face that I have seen a lot somewhere”, and has the same meaning as the first expression, 얼굴이 낯이 익다.

Ex) 어디서 많이 본 얼굴인데 누군지 모르겠어요.
= She looks quite familiar, but I do not know who she is.

3. 얼굴이 까맣게 타다 = to have a tan (on one’s face)
(까맣게 = in black, 타다 = to be burned)

Although getting a tan and getting sunburned are two different things, in Korean, 타다 (to be burned) usually refers to getting a suntan. To make the difference between the two clear, sometimes people will say “까맣게 타다 (= to be burned black)” to talk about a suntan, and “빨갛게 타다 (= to be burned red)” or “빨갛게 익다 (= to be cooked red)” to talk about a sunburn.

Ex) 휴가 다녀왔어요? 얼굴이 까맣게 탔네요.
= Were you on a vacation? Your face is tanned.

4. 걱정스러운 얼굴을 하고 있다 = to look worried
(걱정스러운 = worried, concerned)

Translated literally, this expression means “to be doing/wearing a worried face”. This expression can be used when you want to emphasize the fact that someone seems worried, regardless of whether or not they are actually worried.

Ex) 왜 그렇게 걱정스러운 얼굴을 하고 앉아 있어요?
= Why are you sitting there looking all worried?

5. 얼굴에 쓰여 있다 = to be written all over one’s face
(쓰여 있다 = to be written)

When you say that something is written on a person’s face, it means that you can read their thoughts or emotions by looking at them.

Ex) 거짓말이라고 얼굴에 다 쓰여 있어요.
= I know it is a lie. It is written all over your face.

6. 얼굴을 붉히다 = to blush; to be angry
(붉히다 = to make something turn red)

When your face turns red (in other words, when blood rushes to your face), it could be because you are embarrassed and are blushing, or because you are upset.

Ex) 이건 그렇게 얼굴 붉힐 일이 아니에요.
= This is not something to be mad about like that.

7. 얼굴만 내밀다 = to just say “hi”
(내밀다 = to stick out)

Just like when you “pop your head in/out”, when you “stick your face out/in” to greet someone briefly, you are not interacting much with the person. When you stop by a place very briefly and just say “hi”, you can say 얼굴만 내밀다 or 얼굴만 비치다. 비치다 literally describes how light or color is reflected on something.

Ex) 가기 싫어도 잠깐 얼굴만 내밀고 와요.
= Even if you do not want to go, just stop in and say “hi”.

8. 아는 얼굴이 없다 = to not know anyone (in a certain place)

Translated literally, this phrase means “there is no face I know”, so the actual meaning is to “not know anyone in a certain place”. You can say this when you visit a place after a long absence or when you go to a gathering of new people for the first time.

Ex) 오랜만에 왔더니 아는 얼굴이 별로 없네요.
= Since I have come back after quite a long while, there are not many people that I know.

9. 모르는 얼굴들이 많다 = there are a lot of people one does not know

Similar to 아는 얼굴이 없다, when you say that there are a lot of faces that you do not know, it means that most of the people with you in a certain place or group are stragners.

Ex) 오랜만에 왔더니 모르는 얼굴들이 많네요.
= It has been a while since I have been here, and now there are a lot of people who I do not know.

10. 얼굴이 좋아 보이다 = to look great, healthy

When you say “your face looks good”, it does not mean that someone is good-looking, but rather that someone looks healthier than they did before, or that someone has gained some (but not too much) healthy weight.

Ex) 오랜만이에요. 전보다 얼굴이 좋아 보이네요.
= Long time no see. You look healthy!

11. 무슨 얼굴로 = how can you not be ashamed to...
(무슨 = what kind of)

When you have done something bad or something that you should be ashamed of, you might not want to see other people. Therefore, when you have done something bad to someone, but you still have the nerve to show your face, others might say, “How can you show your face?” This has the implied meaning of, “How can you not be ashamed to do this?”

Ex) 여기를 무슨 얼굴로 찾아왔어요?
= How can you not be ashamed to visit me here?

12. 얼굴에 철판을 깔다 = to be shameless
(철판 = steel plate, 깔다 = to lay; to pave)

When someone is shamelessly asking for a favor or voicing a strong opinion, or when someone does not have a sense of guilt about something they did, you can say that their face is “thick” in Korean (얼굴이 두껍다). An exaggeration of this expression is 얼굴에 철판을 깔다, which means “to have a layer of steel on one’s face”.

Ex) 저 사람은 얼굴에 철판 깔았나 봐요. 어떻게 여기를 또 오지?
= That person is really shameless. How can he come here again?