천조국

Korean

Etymology

Originally a Sino-Korean word from 天朝 (“Celestial Empire”) + 國 (“country”), with the implied criticism that South Korea is a self-deprecating vassal state of America in the same way that dynastic Korea used to revere China as the Empire of Heaven.

Now generally reinterpreted as a Sino-Korean word from 千兆 (“quadrillion”) + 國 (“country”), satirizing the fact that the United States military budget, when rounded up, is equivalent to a quadrillion South Korean won.

Pronunciation

  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [t͡ɕʰʌ̹ɲd͡ʑo̞ɡuk̚]
  • Phonetic hangul: [천조국]
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?Cheonjoguk
Revised Romanization (translit.)?Cheonjogug
McCune–Reischauer?Ch'ŏnjoguk
Yale Romanization?chen.cokwuk

Proper noun

천조국 • (Cheonjoguk) (hanja 千兆國)

  1. (slang, humorous) synonym of 미국(美國) (Miguk, “America, United States of America (a country in North America)”)
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