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.
🎙️ 누워서 침 뱉기는 표기 그대로 읽지 않아요 — 실제로는 [누워서 침 밷끼]로 소리나요 (경음화, 받침규칙). 발음 연습하기 →
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
옥신 ok-sin오르지 못할 나무는 쳐다도 보지 마라 Oreuji mothal namuneun chyeodado boji mara파김치가 되다 Pa-gimchiga doeda폭풍 pok-pung뻔하다 ppeon-ha-da