Gyeong-geo-mang-dong

輕

가벼울 경

擧

들 거

妄

망령될 망

動

움직일 동

Character by character

Meaning

To lift lightly and move rashly — acting before weighing what follows.

Origin

Traced to the Han Feizi, which warns of those who cast aside principle lightly and act on impulse.

How it is used

Said to hold someone back while a situation is still unsettled.

Hanja輕擧妄動

Simplified轻举妄动

Korean reading경거망동

Pinyinqīng jǔ wàng dòng

Frequently asked questions

Q. What does Gyeong-geo-mang-dong mean?

輕擧妄動 · To lift lightly and move rashly — acting before weighing what follows.

Q. Where does Gyeong-geo-mang-dong come from?

Traced to the Han Feizi, which warns of those who cast aside principle lightly and act on impulse.

Q. How is Gyeong-geo-mang-dong used?

Said to hold someone back while a situation is still unsettled.

Idioms in the same group

有備無患 Yu-bi-mu-hwanIf you prepare in advance, there is nothing to worry about.易地思之 Yeok-ji-sa-jiThink about it after swapping places with the other person.初志一貫 Cho-ji-il-gwanCarry the resolve you started with all the way through, unchanged.名不虛傳 Myeong-bul-heo-jeonThe reputation was not passed on in vain — it lives up to the name.靑出於藍 Cheong-chul-eo-ramThe blue drawn from the indigo plant is bluer than the plant — the student surpasses the teacher.虛心坦懷 Heo-sim-tan-hoeAn emptied mind and an open breast — speaking with nothing held back.

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.