Situations
命在頃刻
명재경각
mìng zài qǐng kè
Myeong-jae-gyeong-gak
命
목숨 명
在
있을 재
頃
잠깐 경
刻
새길 각
Character by character
Meaning
Life hanging on a single moment.
Origin
Gyeong-gak means the briefest instant; the phrase runs through classical fiction and petitions.
How it is used
Used for medical emergencies, or a company on the edge of collapse.
Hanja命在頃刻
Simplified命在顷刻
Korean reading명재경각
Pinyinmìng zài qǐng kè
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does Myeong-jae-gyeong-gak mean?
命在頃刻 · Life hanging on a single moment.
Q. Where does Myeong-jae-gyeong-gak come from?
Gyeong-gak means the briefest instant; the phrase runs through classical fiction and petitions.
Q. How is Myeong-jae-gyeong-gak used?
Used for medical emergencies, or a company on the edge of collapse.
Idioms in the same group
四面楚歌 Sa-myeon-cho-gaChu songs on all four sides — surrounded with nowhere to turn.進退兩難 Jin-toe-yang-nanHard to advance and hard to retreat.累卵之危 Nu-ran-ji-wiAs precarious as a stack of eggs.風前燈火 Pung-jeon-deung-hwaA lamp flame before the wind — an extremely precarious state.五里霧中 O-ri-mu-jungInside a fog five li deep — completely unable to make sense of things.雪上加霜 Seol-sang-ga-sangFrost on top of snow — one misfortune stacked on another.
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.