TTMIK Level 10 Lesson 1 

 
Advanced Idiomatic Expressions 12 / (Face)  

This is an Advanced Idiomatic Expressions lesson related to , face. In order to fully

Keyword: 
= face

1. = to look familiar
( = to be familiar with)

Technically speaking, and refer to the same thing, which is “one’s face”, but is
used every day whereas is used more often as part of the idiomatic expressions “ ”
(to be familiar) and “ ” (to be unfamiliar). When you see someone who looks familiar or who
you feel like you have met before, you can say, “ ”.

Ex) ? .  
= Where did I see that person? He looks familiar.  

2. = to look familiar
( = somewhere)

Here, does not mean “where”, but actually “somewhere”. The expression is literally
translated as “it is a face that I saw a lot somewhere”, meaning the same thing as the first
expression, .

Ex) . 
= She looks quite familiar, but I do not know who she is. 

 
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3. = to have a tan (on one’s face)
( = in black, = to be burned)

Although getting a tan and having a sunburn are two different things, in Korean, (to be
burned) usually refers to getting a sun tan. To make the difference clear, sometimes people will
differentiate by saying “ (to be burned black)” to talk about a suntan, and “
(to be burned red)” or “ (to be cooked red)” to talk about a sunburn.

Ex) ? .  
= Were you on a vacation? Your face is tan. 

4. = to look worried
( = worried, concerned)

Literally translated, this expression means “to be doing/wearing a worried face”. This
expression can be used when you want to emphasize the fact that someone seems worried
rather than whether or not he/she is actually truly worried.

Ex) ?  
= Why are you sitting there looking all worried?  

5. = to be written all over one’s face

When you say that something is written on someone’s face, it means that you can read his or
her thoughts or emotions.

Ex) .  
= I know it is a lie. It is written all over your face. 

6. = to blush; to be angry
( = to make something turn red)

 
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 When your face turns red (in other words, when blood rushes to your face), it could be either
because you are embarrassed and are blushing, or because you are upset.

Ex) . 
= This is not something to be mad about like that. 

7. = to just say “hi”

When you just “stick your face out/in”, just as you would “pop your head in/out” to say “hello”,
you are not doing much to interact with other people. When you stop by a place very briefly and
just say “hi”, you can say “ ” or “ ”. describes how the light or color
is reflected on something.

Ex) .  
= Even if you do not want to go, just stop in and say “hi”.   

8. = to not know anyone (in a certain place)

Literally translated, it means “there is no face I know”, so the actual meaning is that you do
“not know anyone in a certain place”. You can say this when you visit a place after a long
absence or when you go to a gathering for the first time.

Ex) .  
= Since I have come back after quite a long while, there are not many people that I know. 

9. = there are a lot of people one does not know

Similar to , when you say that there are a lot of faces that you do not know, it
means that you do not know most of the people who are with you in a certain place or group.

 
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 Ex) .  
= I have not been here for a while, and now there are a lot of people who I do not know.  

10. = to look great, healthy

When you say “your face looks good”, it does not mean that someone is good looking, but
rather that someone is looking healthier than before, or that someone has gained some (but not
too much) weight.

Ex) . .  
= Long time no see. You look healthier and look like you have (healthily) gained some 
weight compared to before. 

11. = how can you be not ashamed to ~

When you have done something bad or something that you should be ashamed of, you might
not want to see other people. Therefore, when you have done something bad to someone and
you still have the nerve to show your face, others can say, “how can you show your face?”,
meaning “how can you be not ashamed to do this?”

Ex) ?  
= How can you be not ashamed to visit me here? 

12. = to be shameless
( = steel plate, = to lay; to pave)

When someone is shamelessly asking for a favor or voicing a strong opinion, or when
someone does not have a sense of guilt about something they did, you say that his/her face is
“thick” in Korean ( ). An exaggeration of this expression is (to have
a layer of steel on one’s face).

 
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 Ex) . ?  
= That person is really shameless. How can he come here again?  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
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