This Year's Four-Character Idiom 'Asitabi'... A Sophisticated Version of 'Naeronambul'

The four-character idiom chosen by professors to represent Korean society this year is "Asitabi" (我是他非). Photo by Asia Economy

[Asia Economy Reporter Nah Hana] The four-character idiom chosen by professors to represent Korean society this year is 'Asitabi (我是他非).' Asitabi translates the double standard of "I am right, others are wrong" into Chinese characters.

According to the Professor Newspaper on the 20th, an email survey conducted from the 7th to the 14th with 906 professors found that Asitabi received the most votes at 32.4% (multiple responses allowed).

Asitabi is a four-character idiom devised as the Chinese character version of the phrase "If I do it, it's romance; if others do it, it's an affair (Naero-nambul)," which has been frequently used in politics since the 1990s.

The professors criticized the political sphere for repeatedly exhibiting the 'Asitabi' attitude, which does not help solve problems in politics and society even amid national crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the second most selected four-character idiom was 'Huanmuchi (厚顔無恥),' meaning shameless and brazen, having a thick face and no sense of shame.