Nuance Dictionary / Social Situations
누워서 침 뱉기 Nuwoseo chim baetgi
Sabotaging a colleague or leaking company data only to destroy your own career and reputation.
What does 누워서 침 뱉기 mean?
누워서 침 뱉기 (Nuwoseo chim baetgi) means: Sabotaging a colleague or leaking company data only to destroy your own career and reputation.
Textbooks love to translate this literally as 'spitting while lying down' to mean self-sabotage in general, but in modern corporate Korea, it’s the ultimate psychological weapon for office politics. Natives reach for it when an unhinged employee tries to drag someone down with false HR reports or anonymous leaks, only for the boomerang to hit them right between the eyes. It signals a mixture of schadenfreude and absolute contempt for someone's total lack of strategic foresight. Learners often treat it like a mild idiom for making mistakes, but in the trenches of a toxic workplace, it’s a verbal death sentence.
Other sides of 누워서 침 뱉기
◆ Online Fanwars and Mud-Slinging — Textbooks define this idiom literally as 'spitting while lying down'—meaning it falls back on your own face. In the chaotic trenches of Korean stan Twitter and DC Inside, natives deploy this exact phrase when a toxic fan account tries to drag another fandom's talent, but gets immediately dragged by receipts of their own idols doing the exact same thing. It’s the ultimate counter-attack against internet self-owns, signaling not just foolishness, but the poetic, instant karma of public hypocrisy.
How it's actually used
- 상사한테 꼰지르겠다고 협박하더니 결국 자기가 잘렸어. 완전 누워서 침 뱉기지.
Sang-sahante kkonjireul-getdago hyeopbak-hadeoni gyeolguk jagiga jallyeosseo. Wanjeon nuwoseo chim baetgiji.
He threatened to snitch to the boss and ended up getting fired himself. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
💡 Exposes how petty workplace retaliation almost always backfires on the aggressor. - 익명 게시판에 동료 험담 올렸다가 IP 추적당해서 회사를 나가게 됐대. 누워서 침 뱉기의 좋은 예지.
Ingmyeong gesipane dongryo heomdam ollyeotdaga IP chujeok-danghaeseo hoesareul nagage dwaetdae. Nuwoseo chim baetgi-ui joheun yeji.
They posted trash talk about a coworker on the anonymous board, got their IP tracked, and had to leave the company. A textbook case of self-sabotage.
💡 Highlights the digital version of this idiom in modern Korean corporate culture. - 팀장님 약점 잡는다고 기밀 유출하다간 누워서 침 뱉기 꼴 난다니까.
Timjangnim yakjeom jamneundago gimil yuchul-hadagan nuwoseo chim baetgi kkol nandanikka.
If you leak secrets just to get dirt on the team leader, you're only going to ruin your own life.
💡 Used as a stern warning against high-stakes, self-destructive office warfare.
Related words in Social Situations
소 뒷걸음질 치다 쥐 잡기 So dwit-georeumjil chida jwi japgi원숭이도 나무에서 떨어진다 Wonsungido namuseo tteoreojinda애를 먹다 aereul meokda알다 alda아무래도 amuraedo