은수저

Korean

Etymology

은 (銀, eun, “silver”) + 수저 (sujeo, “cutlery; spoon and chopsticks”).

The idiomatic sense is a partial calque of English silver spoon, but the meaning has since become specified due to the introduction of other terms by analogy.

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ɯnsʰud͡ʑʌ̹]
Phonetic hangeul: [은수저]

Revised Romanization^?	eunsujeo
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	eunsujeo
McCune–Reischauer^?	ŭnsujŏ
Yale Romanization^?	unswuce

Noun

은수저 • (eunsujeo)

(literally) a silver spoon and chopsticks
(figurative) the upper middle class or lower upper class
Coordinate terms: 금수저 (geumsujeo, “gold spoon”), 동수저 (dongsujeo, “bronze spoon”), 흙수저 (heuksujeo, “dirt spoon”)

Related terms

수저계급론 (sujeogyegeumnon, “spoon theory”)