# 쌍따귀 4인방



## 조금만

In a currently-airing TV drama, four high school girls who hang out together are known as the 쌍따귀 4인방. Now I recognize 4인방 as 四人幇, or "Gang of Four". But I'm baffled by the 쌍따귀 part. Any clues?


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## Mack&Mack

Hi 조금만,

쌍따귀 would be divided into two words: one is 쌍, and the other is 따귀.

쌍 means a pair of things which go together, and 따귀 is as same as 뺨따귀, meaning a slap on one's cheek. So, 쌍따귀 would mean each slap on one's both cheeks. (뺨 means a cheek on the face, just in case you haven't heard of it)


For some examples for 따귀, please refer to the following link.
http://krdic.naver.com/detail.nhn?docid=11091800



Hope this helps.

P.S. I do not have a clue why they are called 쌍따귀 4인방. But, to my ears, although they haven't been exposed to TV dramas for a long time, 쌍따귀 4인방 sounds like a very scary group of girls in a humourous way.


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## 조금만

Mack&Mack said:


> Hi 조금만,
> 
> 쌍따귀 would be divided into two words: one is 쌍, and the other is 따귀.
> [...]



Thank you so much!  It is amazing how the linguistically-insecure mind can get fixated on a false trail and fail to see large signposts by the wayside.  I was determined to interpret that form as 쌍따 - 귀 (assuming some sort of Italo-Korean Konglish equivalent that was trying to convey "Sancta" and then looking for some saint's name that might come out in Hangeul as 귀) and so I missed the blindingly obvious form 따귀.  Had I spotted that , I would probably have got to  쌍 via 쌍둥이 as well.

I'm grateful for your patiently informative response to what must have seemed a very silly question.


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## Mack&Mack

조금만 said:


> Thank you so much! It is amazing how the linguistically-insecure mind can get fixated on a false trail and fail to see large signposts by the wayside. I was determined to interpret that form as 쌍따 - 귀 (assuming some sort of Italo-Korean Konglish equivalent that was trying to convey "Sancta" and then looking for some saint's name that might come out in Hangeul as 귀) and so I missed the blindingly obvious form 따귀. Had I spotted that , I would probably have got to 쌍 via 쌍둥이 as well.
> 
> I'm grateful for your patiently informative response to what must have seemed a very silly question.


 
No problem at all, 조금만. 

I am just hoping that I didn't sound like I underestimated your Korean skills and knowledge. If I did so, it wasn't my intention.

Thank you for your reply.
M&M


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## 조금만

Mack&Mack said:


> No problem at all, 조금만.
> I am just hoping that I didn't sound like I underestimated your Korean skills and knowledge.
> M&M



Please don't worry on that score. It would be pretty hard to underestimate my knowledge of Korean vocabulary, since it is embarassingly minimal. In view of my age, when I learn a new language I tend to focus on trying to master (= know and recognize) the grammar and syntax, since that is feasible in a relatively short span, at least to someone with linguistic training. Thanks to the way Korean grammar is so extensively and explicitly marked by the particle system, I often find myself wanting to claim that I understand a passage perfectly, apart from the little matter of what most of the words mean...  In that latter area, I need all the help I can get, especially since the dictionaries sometimes get me nowhere. Thank goodness there are so many helpful native speakers on the Net, in this forum and elsewhere.


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