헛걸음

Korean

Etymology

헛- (heot-, “false; in vain”) +‎ 걸음 (georeum, “step”)

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [hʌ̹t̚k͈ʌ̹ɾɯm]
• Phonetic hangul: [헏꺼름]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	heotgeoreum
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	heosgeol'eum
McCune–Reischauer?	hŏtkŏrŭm
Yale Romanization?	heskel.um

Noun

헛걸음 • (heotgeoreum)

1. (idiomatic) fruitless undertaking

   고기-를 사러 갔는데 정육점-이 문-을 닫아서 헛걸음-이었어.

   gogi-reul sareo ganneunde jeong'yukjeom-i mun-eul dadaseo heotgeoreum-ieosseo.

   We went to buy meat but the butcher's was closed, so it was a pointless trip.