How to Say “Killing two birds with one stone” in Korean

꿩 먹고 알 먹기

kkwong meokgo al meokgi

Situation: Proverbs & idiomsLevel: Beginner (TOPIK 1–2)

Meaning

Killing two birds with one stone.

Literally “eating the pheasant and its eggs too.” It means getting two benefits from one action, just like “killing two birds with one stone.”

Romanization follows the Revised Romanization system and is a guide to pronunciation.

Syllables: 6 · Words: 4

Said aloud, it sounds like [꿩 먹꼬 알 먹끼].

Syllable	Letters (consonant + vowel + final)	Romanization
꿩	ㄲ+ㅝ+ㅇ	kkwong
먹고
먹	ㅁ+ㅓ+ㄱ	meok
고	ㄱ+ㅗ	[꼬] go
알	ㅇ+ㅏ+ㄹ	al
먹기
먹	ㅁ+ㅓ+ㄱ	meok
기	ㄱ+ㅣ	[끼] gi

A ㅇ at the start of a syllable is silent; at the end of a syllable it sounds like “ng”.

Tensing: after a final ㄱ, ㄷ or ㅂ sound, ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ and ㅈ become tense (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ). 먹고 → [먹꼬]

Style: Set expressionSentence type: Statement or set phrase

There is no verb ending, so the phrase has no politeness level of its own: it is a short fixed expression or a noun phrase.

Test yourself before you move on. Tap an answer.

Question 1 What does “꿩 먹고 알 먹기” mean?

Show the answer

Answer: Killing two birds with one stone

Question 2 How do you say “Killing two birds with one stone” in Korean?

Show the answer

Answer: 꿩 먹고 알 먹기 kkwong meokgo al meokgi

Question 3 How is “꿩 먹고 알 먹기” pronounced?

Show the answer

Answer: [꿩 먹꼬 알 먹끼]

Learn this phrase by playing: typing drills and quizzes help it stick.