Sip-beol-ji-mok

十

열 십

伐

칠 벌

之

갈 지

木

나무 목

Character by character

Meaning

No tree stands after ten swings of the axe.

Origin

A four-character rendering of the Korean proverb about the tenth swing.

How it is used

Encouragement to try again after being turned down.

Hanja十伐之木

Simplified十伐之木

Korean reading십벌지목

Pinyinshí fá zhī mù

Frequently asked questions

Q. What does Sip-beol-ji-mok mean?

十伐之木 · No tree stands after ten swings of the axe.

Q. Where does Sip-beol-ji-mok come from?

A four-character rendering of the Korean proverb about the tenth swing.

Q. How is Sip-beol-ji-mok used?

Encouragement to try again after being turned down.

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.