People & Bonds
竹馬故友
죽마고우
zhú mǎ gù yǒu
Juk-ma-go-u
竹
대 죽
馬
말 마
故
옛 고
友
벗 우
Character by character
Meaning
An old friend from bamboo-horse days — someone you grew up with.
Origin
From the Shishuo Xinyu, referring to children who played together on bamboo hobby-horses.
How it is used
How you introduce a friend you have known since primary school.
Hanja竹馬故友
Simplified竹马故友
Korean reading죽마고우
Pinyinzhú mǎ gù yǒu
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does Juk-ma-go-u mean?
竹馬故友 · An old friend from bamboo-horse days — someone you grew up with.
Q. Where does Juk-ma-go-u come from?
From the Shishuo Xinyu, referring to children who played together on bamboo hobby-horses.
Q. How is Juk-ma-go-u used?
How you introduce a friend you have known since primary school.
Idioms in the same group
管鮑之交 Gwan-po-ji-gyoThe friendship of Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya — friends who truly know each other.百年偕老 Baeng-nyeon-hae-roGrowing old together for a hundred years.同苦同樂 Dong-go-dong-nakSharing the hardship and the joy alike.人之常情 In-ji-sang-jeongThe ordinary feeling any human being would have.類類相從 Yu-yu-sang-jongLike follows like — similar people gather together.結草報恩 Gyeol-cho-bo-eunTie the grass to repay a kindness — gratitude that outlasts death.
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.