은수저

Korean

Etymology

은(銀) (eun, “silver”) +‎ 수저 (sujeo, “cutlery; spoon and chopsticks”).

The idiomatic sense is a partial calque of English silver spoon, but the meaning has since become specified due to the introduction of other terms by analogy.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ɯnsʰud͡ʑʌ̹]
• Phonetic hangul: [은수저]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	eunsujeo
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	eunsujeo
McCune–Reischauer?	ŭnsujŏ
Yale Romanization?	unswuce

Noun

은수저 • (eunsujeo)

1. (literally) a silver spoon and chopsticks
2. (figurative) the upper middle class or lower upper class

   Coordinate terms: 금수저 (geumsujeo, “gold spoon”), 동수저 (dongsujeo, “bronze spoon”), 흙수저 (heuksujeo, “dirt spoon”)

Related terms

• 수저계급론 (sujeogyegeumnon, “spoon theory”)