Lesson 16

This is an Advanced Idiomatic Expressions lesson related to 가슴, the chest, heart, breast, or mind. 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 with which you are unfamiliar, please go back and review the related lessons.

Keyword:
가슴 = chest, heart, breast, mind

1. 가슴이 아프다 = one’s heart aches; it makes one sad

This could mean that you have some pain in your chest, but normally if you say this, people will understand it as you are sad or that something is breaking your heart. You can also say 마음이 아프다.

Ex)
저는 이런 기사를 읽으면 너무 가슴이 아파요.
= I am so sad when I read articles like this.
= If I read articles like this, I am so sad.

2. 가슴이 두근거리다 = to be thrilled; one’s heart is pounding

두근거리다 can also be used alone to mean “to be thrilled” or “one’s heart is pounding”, but it is often used together with 가슴이. When you have something very exciting or absolutely nerve-wracking coming up soon, such as confessing something to someone or going on stage for a performance, you can use this expression.

Ex)
어젯밤에 가슴이 두근거려서 잠을 많이 못 잤어요.
= I could not sleep a lot last night because I was so excited.
* 두근두근 = pit-a-pat (onomatopoeia for a beating heart)

3. 가슴이 뛰다 = one’s heart beats; one’s heart races; to be happily excited and motivated

When you are excited about something and your heart is beating faster than normal, you can say 가슴이 뛰다. It can be used for both good and bad situations, but is more commonly used for good situations, such as when your heart is racing because you saw someone you like, or when you are about to achieve something that you have wanted for a long time.

Ex)
지금 가슴이 너무 뛰어서 말이 안 나와요.
= Right now I am so excited that I cannot speak.

4. 가슴이 답답하다 = to feel a pressure on one’s chest; to feel heavy with worry
▷ 답답하다 = to be stuffy; to be stifling

답답하다 can be used to refer to a stuffy environment, but it can also be used to talk about a situation or something that does not work as well as one wants. 가슴이 답답하다 is mixture of both of these meanings. When there is something that is not working out like you wish, you can feel that your 가슴이 답답하다.

Ex)
요즘에 걱정이 많아서 가슴이 답답해요.
= I have a lot of things to worry about these days, so I feel a pressure on my chest.

5. 가슴이 내려앉다 = to be greatly surprised; to be startled; one’s heart sinks

내려앉다 means to sink or to collapse, so when your heart or chest suddenly “sinks” due to surprise, sadness, or disappointment, you can use the expression 가슴이 내려앉다. This is usually used in a bad situation. People also use 가슴이 철렁하다 to say the same thing. 철렁 here is an onomatopoeia used to describe the sound of one’s heart sinking.

Ex)
그 소식 듣고 정말 가슴이 내려앉았어요.
= My heart sank when I heard that news.

6. 부푼 가슴을 안고 = with a pounding heart
▷ 안다 = to hug

부풀다 means “to inflate”, so 부푼 가슴 is an inflated chest or inflated heart. This means your heart or mind is full of hope and excitement, so the expression 부푼 가슴을 안고 refers to the attitude in which you are dealing with things with great excitement and high hopes. This expression, however, tends to be used more often in written language. Remember this as a fixed phrase.

Ex)
부푼 가슴을 안고 10년 전에 서울로 이사 왔어요.
= I moved to Seoul 10 years ago, full of excitement for what I would be doing.

7. 가슴에 와닿다 = something touches one’s heart; to hit home

When something comes along and touches your heart, it means it hits “close to home” and you are moved. In that case, you can use the expression 가슴에 와닿다. On the contrary, however, if a story or a movie does not “hit home” and you are not touched by it, you can say 가슴에 와닿지 않다. Since 닿다 means “to reach” or “to touch”, if you say 가슴에 닿다, you are saying something physically touches your chest.

Ex)
왜인지 모르겠지만 이 이야기는 가슴에 와닿지 않아요.
= I do not know why, but this story does not touch my heart.

8. 가슴에 맺힌 한을 풀다 = to resolve one’s deep sorrow

한 is deep resentment or deep sorrow. 맺히다, which means “to form”, is usually used with 눈물 (tears), 이슬 (dew), 땀 (sweat), or 한 (resentment). 풀다 means to resolve, so 가슴에 맺힌 한을 풀다 means to resolve some long overdue deep sorrow, usually by finally doing something that one has not been able to do or by being forgiven by someone.

Ex)
저희 어머니는 드디어 가슴에 맺힌 한을 풀었어요.
= My mother finally got/achieved what she had been hoping for.

9. 가슴 벅차다 = to be overwhelmed (with joy); one’s heart is overflowing with joy

When you are overwhelmed with joy and your heart is “full”, you can say 가슴이 벅차다.

Ex)
제 친구가 올림픽에서 금메달을 따서 정말 가슴이 벅차요.
= My heart is overflowing with joy because my friend won a gold medal in the Olympic Games.

10. 가슴 깊이 후회하다 = to deeply regret

In fact, you can omit the word 가슴 and just say 깊이 후회하다 to mean the same thing, but by adding the word 가슴, you give the expression a stronger nuance.

Ex)
그때 제가 했던 말을 가슴 깊이 후회하고 있어요.
= I am deeply regretting what I said back then.

11. 가슴 깊이 뉘우치다 = to deeply repent

This expression is very similar to 가슴 깊이 후회하다, except 뉘우치다 is closer to repenting and realizing one’s fault.

Ex)
가슴 깊이 뉘우치고 있어요. 용서해 주세요.
= I am deeply repenting what I did. Please forgive me.

12. 가슴이 콩닥콩닥 (뛰다) = one’s heart is pounding

콩닥콩닥 is an onomatopoeia that describes the sound of a pounding heart but also a mimetic word that describes how the heart pounds in a small and cute way. Other words that describe the same kind of movement or sound in a bigger scale or in a more serious way are 쿵쾅쿵쾅 or 쿵덕쿵덕.

Ex)
좋아하는 가수를 봐서 가슴이 콩닥콩닥 뛰었어요.
= I saw my favorite singer so my heart was pounding.