Hu-saeng-ga-oe

後

뒤 후

生

날 생

可

옳을 가

畏

두려워할 외

Character by character

Meaning

Those born later are to be feared — never write off what the young will become.

Origin

From the Analects: “The young are to be held in awe. How do we know they will not equal what we are today?”

How it is used

Used to acknowledge that someone much younger is already good.

Hanja後生可畏

Simplified后生可畏

Korean reading후생가외

Pinyinhòu shēng kě wèi

Frequently asked questions

Q. What does Hu-saeng-ga-oe mean?

後生可畏 · Those born later are to be feared — never write off what the young will become.

Q. Where does Hu-saeng-ga-oe come from?

From the Analects: “The young are to be held in awe. How do we know they will not equal what we are today?”

Q. How is Hu-saeng-ga-oe used?

Used to acknowledge that someone much younger is already good.

Idioms in the same group

刮目相對 Gwal-mok-sang-daeRub your eyes and look again — someone’s ability has grown astonishingly.敎學相長 Gyo-hak-sang-jangTeaching and learning grow each other.多多益善 Da-da-ik-seonThe more, the better.聞一知十 Mun-il-ji-sipHear one thing and know ten — exceptional quickness of mind.格物致知 Gyeong-mul-chi-jiInvestigate things to reach knowledge.有名無實 Yu-myeong-mu-silA name without substance — the sign is up but nothing is behind it.

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.