Effort & Endurance
切磋琢磨
절차탁마
qiē cuō zhuó mó
Jeol-cha-tak-ma
切
끊을 절
磋
갈 차
琢
다듬을 탁
磨
갈 마
Character by character
Meaning
Cut, file, chisel and polish — refine learning and character without cease.
Origin
From the Book of Songs, naming the four stages of working a piece of jade.
How it is used
Used for the long refinement of a craft or a body of learning.
Hanja切磋琢磨
Simplified切磋琢磨
Korean reading절차탁마
Pinyinqiē cuō zhuó mó
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does Jeol-cha-tak-ma mean?
切磋琢磨 · Cut, file, chisel and polish — refine learning and character without cease.
Q. Where does Jeol-cha-tak-ma come from?
From the Book of Songs, naming the four stages of working a piece of jade.
Q. How is Jeol-cha-tak-ma used?
Used for the long refinement of a craft or a body of learning.
Idioms in the same group
愚公移山 U-gong-i-sanOld Man Yu moves the mountain — persistence accomplishes anything.磨斧作針 Ma-bu-jak-chimGrind an axe into a needle — dogged effort achieves even the impossible.螢雪之功 Hyeong-seol-ji-gongMerit earned reading by fireflies and snow-light — study achieved in hardship.切齒腐心 Jeol-chi-bu-simGrinding your teeth and letting your heart rot — nursing a grievance.臥薪嘗膽 Wa-sin-sang-damSleep on firewood and taste gall — endure any hardship to settle a score.百折不屈 Baek-jeol-bul-gulBroken a hundred times and still unbent.
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.