Nuance Dictionary / Social Situations
입에 침이 마르다 Ip-e chim-i ma-reu-da
Praising a product, idol, or experience so excessively and repeatedly that your mouth literally runs dry.
What does 입에 침이 마르다 mean?
입에 침이 마르다 (Ip-e chim-i ma-reu-da) means: Praising a product, idol, or experience so excessively and repeatedly that your mouth literally runs dry.
While textbooks might translate this literally as 'saliva drying up in one's mouth' to mean general praise, in the wild, it is the ultimate gear of the unhinged fan or hyper-satisfied consumer. Natives reach for this when they are deep in stan Twitter mode or desperately trying to convert their friends into buying a specific skincare item or game. Learners often misuse it like a formal book report adjective, but natives use it with breathless, manic enthusiasm—often right before buying three more of the same item.
Other sides of 입에 침이 마르다
◆ Polite Job Interview Praise — Textbooks often frame this idiom as a generic way to praise someone endlessly, but in the corporate world, it carries a specific weight. Natives reach for it during performance reviews, stakeholder meetings, or formal recommendations to signal absolute professional confidence in a third party's competence. Learners often misuse it as a casual compliment for food or hobbies, missing that its true corporate home is the high-stakes boardroom where your professional reputation backs up the person you are endorsing.
🎙️ 입에 침이 마르다는 표기 그대로 읽지 않아요 — 실제로는 [이베 치미 마르다]로 소리나요 (연음법칙). 발음 연습하기 →
How it's actually used
- 이번에 새로 산 이어폰 음질 미쳤어. 진짜 입에 침이 마르게 추천하는 중.
Ibeon-e saero san ieopon eumjil michyeot-eo. Jinjja ip-e chim-i mareuge chucheon-haneun jung.
The sound quality of the earbuds I just bought is insane. I'm literally out here recommending it until my mouth goes dry.
💡 Shows how consumers use the adverbial form (-마르게) to describe relentless, ongoing product evangelism. - 우리 오빠 라이브 무대 본 사람은 다 입에 침이 마르도록 칭찬하더라니까?
Uri oppa raibeu mudae bon saram-eun da ip-e chim-i mareudorok chingchan-hadeoranikka?
Everyone who's seen our guy's live stage praises him until their mouth is dry, right?
💡 Classic stanning behavior: preemptively validating an idol's talent by claiming universal, breathless praise. - 그 게임 진짜 인생작이야. 입에 침이 마르도록 떠들어도 시간이 모자라.
Geu geim jinjja insaeng-jak-iya. Ip-e chim-i mareudorok tteodeoreodo sigan-i mojara.
That game is genuinely a masterpiece. Even if I talk about it until my mouth dries out, there's not enough time.
💡 Captures the gamer obsession facet—exhausting your vocal cords and saliva out of pure hype.
Related words in Social Situations
잘 먹었습니다 Jal meogeotseumnida잘 먹겠습니다 Jal meokgesseumnida적반하장 jeok-ban-ha-jang적당히 jeokdanghi정신차려 jeong-sin-cha-ryeo