선무당이 사람 잡는다

선무당이 사람 잡는다

Korean

Etymology

First appears in the chengyu-ized form 生巫殺人 in the 公私恒用錄/공사항용록 Gongsa hangyongnok, c. 1800, as an example of a native Korean proverb.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈsʰɘːnmuda̠ŋi sʰa̠ːɾa̠m t͡ɕa̠mnɯnda̠]
• Phonetic hangeul: [선ː무당이 사ː람 잠는다]

Revised Romanization? seonmudang-i saram jamneunda Revised Romanization (translit.)? seonmudang-i salam jabneunda McCune–Reischauer? sŏnmudangi saram chamnŭnda Yale Romanization? sēnmutang.i sālam capnunta

Proverb

선무당이 사람 잡는다 • (seonmudang-i saram jamneunda)

1. "The novice shaman kills the person [that they were trying to heal]"; a little knowledge is a dangerous thing

Related terms

• 선무당이 사람 속인다 (seonmudang-i saram soginda, “(of an incompetent person) to successfully trick someone into believing something”, literally “the novice shaman fools a person”)
• 선무당이 장구 탓한다 (seonmudang-i janggu tathanda, “(of a novice) to blame circumstances rather than one's own lack of practice”, literally “the novice shaman blames the drums”)