What does 용기 mean?
용기 (yong-gi) means: Courage, bravery, or the nerve to do something scary.
'용기 내' (Have courage/Gather your nerve). It's what you need right before you confess your feelings ('고백') or quit a terrible job.
Other sides of 용기
◆ confession — In textbooks, *yong-gi* is just 'courage'—something you use to face a challenge or save a cat from a tree. But in romance, it takes on a heavy, vibrating weight. Natives reach for this word when a friendship is teetering on the edge, signaling that the speaker is about to risk everything they have with the listener. Learners often treat it like a simple admission of bravery, missing the breathless, trembling hesitation that actually makes native speakers pause before uttering it.
◆ parental_patience — While textbooks teach this word as standard 'courage' for facing danger, exhausted Korean parents hijack it for a entirely different kind of bravery: swallowing the urge to lose one's temper in public. When a toddler throws a tantrum on the subway floor, you don't need battlefield valor; you need a massive dose of yong-gi just to keep your voice from hitting a sonic octave that would shatter glass. It turns a philosophical virtue into a split-second survival tactic against homicide by child.
◆ parental_patience — While textbooks teach this word as standard 'courage' for facing danger, exhausted Korean parents hijack it for a entirely different kind of bravery: swallowing the urge to lose one's temper in public. When a toddler throws a tantrum on the subway floor, you don't need battlefield valor; you need a massive dose of yong-gi just to keep your voice from hitting a sonic octave that would shatter glass. It turns a philosophical virtue into a split-second survival tactic against homicide by child.
How it's actually used
- 내일 그동안 숨겨왔던 마음을 고백할 용기가 생겼어.
naeil geudongan sumgyowatdeon maeumeul gobaekhal yongiga saenggyeosseo.
I've gathered the courage to confess the feelings I've been hiding tomorrow.
💡 Used when finding the nerve to do something intimidating. - 용기 내서 면접 봤는데 생각보다 잘 본 것 같아.
yong-i naeseo myeonjeop bwanneunde saenggakboda jal bon geot gata.
I mustered up the courage to go to the interview, and I think I did better than expected.
💡 The phrase '용기 내서' (gathering courage) is extremely common. - 좋아하는 사람에게 내 마음을 고백할 용기가 도저히 안 나.
joahaneun saramege nae maeumeul gobaekhal yonggiga dojeohi an na.
I just can't summon the courage to confess my feelings to the person I like.
💡 Often used with verbs like '내다' (to gather/produce) or '안 나' (cannot muster).