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What does “객기 부리다” mean in Korean?

객기 부리다 means to act with reckless, show-off bravado — to take on more than you can actually handle just to look tough or generous. The noun 객기 is a pointless burst of courage that ignores your real limits, so 객기 부리다 carries a faint eye-roll: brave, yes, but foolhardy. A grandmother’s classic line of caution is 객기 부리지 마 — “don’t overdo it.”

The word comes from the hanja 客氣 — 客 “guest, outsider” plus 氣 “spirit, energy” — which you can read as a borrowed, out-of-place “spirit” that pushes you past your normal sense. (Curiously, the same characters in Chinese mean “polite.”) You’ll hear it whenever someone bites off too much: 괜히 객기 부리지 말고 (“don’t go showing off for no reason”). In the clip, as the man keeps stacking more and more cargo onto his motorbike to help a pregnant woman up a steep hill, a passing grandmother shakes her head — 어이구, 객기 부리지 마 — sure he’ll never make it.