Nuance Dictionary / Social Situations
입이 짧다 Ibi chalda
To have a notoriously small appetite or be frustratingly selective about food.
What does 입이 짧다 mean?
입이 짧다 (Ibi chalda) means: To have a notoriously small appetite or be frustratingly selective about food.
Textbooks teach you this literally means 'mouth is short,' leaving you wondering what anatomy has to do with dinner. In reality, it's the ultimate phrase of affectionate exasperation used by mothers, grandmothers, and older relatives hovering over a half-eaten bowl of rice. It carries zero clinical coldness; it feels warm, slightly naggy, and deeply embedded in Korean domestic life where eating well is how people show love.
Other sides of 입이 짧다
◆ Dating & Restaurant Selection — When you're early in the dating phase and someone suggests going out to eat, dropping '입이 짧다' is your advance warning system. It signals that you aren't trying to be difficult or high-maintenance—you genuinely just get full fast or have a low tolerance for certain foods. Natives use this to soften the potential awkwardness of leaving food behind or being hard to please on a dinner date.
◆ Health & Stamina Concerns — When older Koreans or health-conscious peers use '입이 짧다' in this light, they aren't just calling you a picky eater—they are diagnosing your lack of life force. In Korean somatic logic, food is fuel for your ki (life energy); if you barely peck at your rice, you simply lack the stamina to endure life's stresses. It carries a heavy undertone of maternal worry, as if to say, 'How can a body that fragile possibly survive?'
◆ Health & Stamina Concerns — When older Koreans or health-conscious peers use '입이 짧다' in this light, they aren't just calling you a picky eater—they are diagnosing your lack of life force. In Korean somatic logic, food is fuel for your ki (life energy); if you barely peck at your rice, you simply lack the stamina to endure life's stresses. It carries a heavy undertone of maternal worry, as if to say, 'How can a body that fragile possibly survive?'
🎙️ 입이 짧다는 표기 그대로 읽지 않아요 — 실제로는 [이비 짤따]로 소리나요 (경음화, 연음법칙, 자음군단순화). 발음 연습하기 →
How it's actually used
- 우리 막내는 입이 짧아서 밥 먹이는 게 전쟁이야.
u-ri mak-nae-neun i-bi chal-da-seo bap meo-gi-neun ge jeon-jaeng-i-ya.
Our youngest has such a small appetite, getting him to eat is a war.
💡 Shows how the term is naturally paired with family caregiving and mild complaining. - 너 그렇게 입이 짧아가지고 키가 크겠어?
neo geu-reo-ge i-bi chal-da-ga-ji-go ki-ga keu-get-seo?
With eating habits that picky, do you think you'll grow tall?
💡 A classic generational guilt-trip delivered with a pinch to the cheek. - 내가 원래 입이 좀 짧아서 맛없는 건 입에 안 대.
nae-ga won-rae i-bi jom chal-da-seo mat-eom-neun geon ib-e an dae.
I naturally have a picky palate, so I don't touch food that isn't good.
💡 How adults use it on themselves as a casual disclaimer before refusing food.
Related words in Social Situations
입찰 ip-chal입에 침이 마르다 Ip-e chim-i ma-reu-da잘 먹었습니다 Jal meogeotseumnida잘 먹겠습니다 Jal meokgesseumnida적반하장 jeok-ban-ha-jang