Words & Speech
寸鐵殺人
촌철살인
cùn tiě shā rén
Chon-cheol-sa-rin
寸
마디 촌
鐵
쇠 철
殺
죽일 살
人
사람 인
Character by character
Meaning
Kill with an inch of steel — pierce the vital point with a few words.
Origin
From a Chan Buddhist simile recorded in the Helin Yulu; in Korea it came to mean a devastatingly apt remark.
How it is used
Said of a one-sentence comment that nails the heart of the matter.
Hanja寸鐵殺人
Simplified寸铁杀人
Korean reading촌철살인
Pinyincùn tiě shā rén
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does Chon-cheol-sa-rin mean?
寸鐵殺人 · Kill with an inch of steel — pierce the vital point with a few words.
Q. Where does Chon-cheol-sa-rin come from?
From a Chan Buddhist simile recorded in the Helin Yulu; in Korea it came to mean a devastatingly apt remark.
Q. How is Chon-cheol-sa-rin used?
Said of a one-sentence comment that nails the heart of the matter.
Idioms in the same group
言中有骨 Eon-jung-yu-golThere is bone inside the words — a hard meaning hidden in an ordinary remark.以心傳心 I-sim-jeon-simMind transmits to mind — understanding without a word spoken.甘言利說 Gam-eon-i-seolSweet words and seemingly advantageous talk — the language of enticement.有口無言 Yu-gu-mu-eonYou have a mouth but nothing to say.一言之下 Il-eon-ji-haSettled in a single word — a flat, immediate response.語不成說 Eo-bul-seong-seolThe words do not add up to a statement — it makes no sense.
The idioms used in Korea mix phrases from the Chinese classics with ones coined in Korea. Where an expression is not used in China, the entry says so.