남남북녀

Korean

FWOTD – 21 April 2021

Alternative forms

• 북녀남남 (北女南男, bungnyeonamnam) (North Korean variant, with "North" first).

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 南 (“south”) + 男 (“man”) + 北 (“north”) + 女 (“woman”)

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [na̠mna̠mbuŋɲʌ̹]
• Phonetic hangul: [남남붕녀]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	namnambungnyeo
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	namnambugnyeo
McCune–Reischauer?	namnambungnyŏ
Yale Romanization?	namnampuknye

Noun

남남북녀 • (namnambungnyeo) (hanja 南男北女)

1. (historical) in dynastic Korea, the notion that the most competent men are from the southernmost provinces and that the most beautiful women are from the northernmost provinces
2. (modern) the stereotype that South Korean men are more handsome than North Korean men and that North Korean women are more beautiful than South Korean women
   • 2004, 최진이 [choejini, Choe Jin-i], Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights‎^[1]:

     나는 처음 만나는 한국 사람들로부터 "미인이시네요, 정말 ‘남남북녀’ 란 말이 맞네요."라는 말을 가끔 듣곤 한다. 내가 미인이어서가 아니라 상대방을 추켜올리는 데 아주 능숙 능란한 한국문화가 생산해낸 상투적인 인사법이라는 것을 깨닫는 데는 참 많은 시간이 요구되었다.

     Naneun cheo'eum mannaneun han'guk saramdeullobuteo miinisineyo, jeongmal ‘namnambungnyeo’ ran mari manneyo.Raneun mareul gakkeum deutgon handa. Naega miinieoseoga anira sangdaebang'eul chukyeoollineun de aju neungsuk neungnanhan han'gungmunhwaga saengsanhaenaen sangtujeogin insabeobiraneun geoseul kkaedanneun deneun cham maneun sigani yogudoeeotda.

     From time to time, South Koreans will tell me when we are first introduced to each other: "You're a beauty. The saying "southern men, northern women" really holds true." It took me a truly long time to understand that I was not a beauty, that this was a generic greeting produced by South Korean culture, which is so adept in the art of talking up the other person.

3. (modern) a South Korean man and a North Korean woman
   • 2016, 한보경 [hanbogyeong, Han Bo-gyeong], “'남남북녀' 부부 늘어난다…탈북입국자 80%는 여성 [namnambungnyeo bubu neureonanda…talbugipgukja 80%neun yeoseong]”, in Money Today‎^[2]:

     연간 남남북녀의 성혼은 수백 건으로 추산된다.

     Yeon'gan namnambungnyeoui seonghoneun subaek geoneuro chusandoenda.

     Marriages between South Korean men and North Korean women are estimated in the hundreds per year.