만우절에 시작되는 말자할매 고민상담

What does “만우절” mean in Korean?

만우절 is the Korean name for April Fools' Day, and it’s built entirely from Chinese characters: 萬 (man, “ten thousand”) + 愚 (u, “foolish”) + 節 (jeol, “festival/day”). Read literally, it’s the “festival of ten thousand fools.” Once you spot that final 절, you can recognize a whole family of Korean holiday names without knowing the rest of the word — it reliably marks “a day to observe.”

That 절 (jeol, 節) suffix is the giveaway. It caps off the names of national observances: 광복절 (Gwangbokjeol, Liberation Day), 삼일절 (Samiljeol, March 1st Independence Movement Day), 개천절 (Gaecheonjeol, National Foundation Day), and 제헌절 (Jeheonjeol, Constitution Day). So hearing -절 at the end of a word is a strong cue you’re dealing with a commemorative day. Note the exception: Hangul Day is 한글날, using the native Korean 날 (“day”) rather than Sino-Korean 절 — a nice reminder that Korean names holidays from two layers of vocabulary.