을까 말다

eulkkamalda

Patternheard in 22 videos · 24 times

Also spelled eulkamalda, ulkkamalda

should I or shouldn't I

-(으)ㄹ까 말까 pairs 'shall I?' with 말다 'not do it', capturing the wobble between them: 달달한 케이크를 먹을까 말까? (should I have the cake or not?), 긴팔 입을까 말까 고민하는 (dithering about long sleeves). It also does duty as 'barely, if that' — 1년에 한 번 먹을까 말까 한 술 means drinking maybe once a year, and possibly not even that.

Register: casual

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