돌팔이

Korean

Etymology

돌— (dol-, “to wander”) +‎ 팔— (pal-, “to sell”) +‎ 이 (-i, noun-deriving suffix).

The original sense is possibly archaic, and a folk etymology now claims that the first element is 돌 (dol, “stone”), with the idea that a charlatan is someone who sells stones pretending that they are something else.

Pronunciation
  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [ˈto̞(ː)ɭpʰa̠ɾi]
  • Phonetic hangul: [돌(ː)파리]
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?dolpari
Revised Romanization (translit.)?dolpal'i
McCune–Reischauer?tolp'ari
Yale Romanization?tōl.phal.i

Noun

돌팔이 • (dolpari)

  1. (dated, possibly archaic) a wandering salesman
  2. a charlatan
  3. (military slang) a medical student drafted as an army physician, who is inexperienced and generally lacks medical expertise
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