Nuance Dictionary / Social Situations
폭풍 pok-pung
A sudden, unstoppable rush of incoming tasks, news, or emotions that sweeps you off your feet.
What does 폭풍 mean?
폭풍 (pok-pung) means: A sudden, unstoppable rush of incoming tasks, news, or emotions that sweeps you off your feet.
While the literal translation is 'storm,' native speakers don't just use this for bad weather—they reach for it the second life hits fast-forward and buries them in a pile-up of events. Learners often mistake it for a dramatic, poetic word, but it's actually baked into daily survival slang. It signals that you are caught in the current of a rapid-fire sequence—whether it's an avalanche of work emails, a sudden flood of gossip, or a dramatic emotional surge.
How it's actually used
- 월요일 출근하자마자 업무 폭풍이 몰아쳤어.
wol-yo-il chul-geun-ha-ja-ma-ja eop-mu pok-pung-i mol-a-chyeot-seo.
As soon as I got to work on Monday, an absolute storm of tasks hit me.
💡 Combines with '몰아치다' (to rush in/sweep) to describe the classic Monday morning workload avalanche. - 그 뉴스 듣고 머릿속이 아주 폭풍 전야 같았어.
geu nyu-seu deut-go meor-it-sok-i a-ju pok-pung jeon-ya gat-at-seo.
After hearing that news, my mind felt like the calm before a storm.
💡 Uses the idiom '폭풍 전야' (night before the storm) to capture the eerie silence right before emotional chaos. - 폭풍 같은 주말이 지나고 월요일이 왔네.
pok-pung gat-eun ju-mal-i ji-na-go wol-yo-il-i wat-ne.
A storm-like weekend has passed, and Monday is here.
💡 Shows how a 'storm' isn't weather, but a chaotic blur of social or personal events.
Related words in Social Situations
뻔하다 ppeon-ha-da시시콜콜 si-si-kol-kol시작이 반이다 Sijagi banida싱겁다 sing-geop-da소 뒷걸음질 치다 쥐 잡기 So dwit-georeumjil chida jwi japgi