넓다
neol-da
Why having lots of contacts is talked about as area
The picture The two sides stand far apart, so room is left over inside. 넓다 is sides far apart with room left over; 좁다 is sides pressed together with room running out.
Where the picture shows up in 넓다
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the walls are far away
새집은 거실이 넓어요.
sae-ji-beun geo-si-ri neol-beo-yo
The living room in the new place is spacious.
You stand in the middle and stretch out both arms, and the walls are still a long way off on each side
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the edges of a road stand apart
이 길이 넓어서 차가 잘 다녀요.
i gi-ri neol-beo-seo cha-ga jal da-nyeo-yo
This road is wide, so traffic flows well.
Two cars pass each other without brushing, and there is still space left on both sides
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a large spread-out area
시험 범위가 너무 넓어요.
si-heom beo-mwi-ga neo-mu neol-beo-yo
The exam covers far too much.
Books laid open on the desk stretch away left and right until you cannot see the end of the row
Here scope is drawn as ground.
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footprints spread over a district
그분은 발이 넓어서 사람을 많이 알아요.
geu-bu-neun ba-ri neol-beo-seo sa-ra-meul ma-ni a-ra-yo
He knows everyone — he's very well connected.
His footprints are spread from one end of the district to the other, so a familiar face turns up wherever he goes
'발이 넓다' draws the area his footprints cover.
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room left over in the heart
사장님이 마음이 넓으셔서 용서해 주셨어요.
sa-jang-ni-mi ma-eu-mi neol-beu-syeo-seo yong-seo-hae ju-syeo-sseo-yo
The boss is big-hearted, so he forgave me.
The inside of the heart is roomy enough that a whole lump of someone else's mistake comes in and space is still left
All of it in one picture
넓다 is one picture: the sides stand far apart. Walls far away make a living room 넓다; road edges far apart leave space even when cars pass each other. Material spread sideways makes a syllabus 넓다, and footprints spread over a district make someone 발이 넓다. And when the inside of a heart has room left over, someone else's mistake has somewhere to go.