백척간두

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 百 (“hundred”) + 尺 (“feet (unit of measurement)”) + 竿頭 (“tip of a pole”), from a poem by Tang dynasty Zen monk Changsha Jingcen (788—868).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [pɛk̚t͡ɕʰʌ̹k̚k͈a̠ndu] ~ [pe̞k̚t͡ɕʰʌ̹k̚k͈a̠ndu]
• Phonetic hangul: [백척깐두/벡척깐두]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	baekcheokgandu
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	baegcheoggandu
McCune–Reischauer?	paekch'ŏkkandu
Yale Romanization?	paykchek.kantwu

Noun

백척간두 • (baekcheokgandu) (hanja 百尺竿頭)

1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese) an extremely perilous situation, literally "atop a pole a hundred feet high"

   Synonyms: 진퇴양난(進退兩難) (jintoeyangnan( 進退兩難 )), 사면초가(四面楚歌) (samyeonchoga( 四面楚歌 ))

   • 2020, Choo Mi-ae, “추미애 '백척간두서 살떨리는 공포 느껴… 흔들림없이 전진' [chumiae baekcheokganduseo saltteollineun gongpo neukkyeo… heundeullimeopsi jeonjin]”, in Hankook Ilbo‎^[1]:

     이 백척간두에서 살떨리는 무서움과 공포를 느낍니다 […] 저의 소임을 접을 수가 없습니다. (Quoting directly from Choo's Facebook post, linked in the article.)

     I baekcheokgandu-eseo saltteollineun museoum-gwa gongpo-reul neukkimnida [ … ] jeo-ui soim-eul jeobeul su-ga eopseumnida.

     I feel bone-chilling fear and terror on this hundred-feet pole […] But I cannot forsake my responsibility.

Usage notes

False friends with the Chinese chengyu of the same source, which means "great heights of success" (as in 百尺竿頭，更進一步／百尺竿头，更进一步 (bǎi chǐ gāntóu, gèng jìn yībù)).

Derived terms

• 백척간두진일보 (百尺竿頭進一步, baekcheokgandujinilbo)