불
bul
Why a fire on your foot means you're out of time
The picture Something that spreads by itself the moment it catches. From that moment, time is chasing you. 불 catches and spreads on its own; 물 seeps in and dyes from within — one jumps across, the other soaks through.
Where the picture shows up in 불
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lit to give light
불 좀 켜 주세요.
bul jom kyeo ju-se-yo
Could you turn the light on?
A switch goes up in a dark room and light spreads from the ceiling into every corner
Electric light is simply 불 too.
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turning the strength down
가스불 좀 줄여 주세요.
ga-seu-bul jom ju-ryeo ju-se-yo
Please turn the gas down a bit.
The blue flame leaping under the pot drops down low the moment the knob is turned
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spreading on its own
아까 저 건물에 불이 났어요.
a-kka jeo geon-mu-re bu-ri na-sseo-yo
That building caught fire earlier.
Flames that started at one window jumping to the next window, and the next, all on their own
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catching onto feelings
회의 때 괜히 불을 붙였어요.
hoe-ui ttae gwaen-hi bu-reul bu-chyeo-sseo-yo
I stirred things up for nothing in the meeting.
One remark tossed into a quiet meeting room, and the faces around the table start flushing one by one
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spread right up to you
이제 발등에 불이 떨어졌어요.
i-je bal-deung-e bu-ri tteo-reo-jeo-sseo-yo
It's urgent now — no time left.
A ball of fire that was far off has rolled all the way over and landed on the top of your foot
The picture: the fire has reached your foot, so you move this second.
All of it in one picture
불 is what spreads by itself the moment it catches. Flip the switch and light spreads to every corner — that is 불 turned on; drop the leaping flame low and you have turned it down. Fire jumping window to window on its own is a building burning; faces flushing one after another after your one remark is you having lit it. A ball of fire rolling in from far off onto the top of your foot means you move this second. So phrases with 불 aren't about heat; they ask how far the thing has spread by now.