궁 예질 : Eyepatches and Korean Pop Culture References | 서울 드림 
 June 20 , 2018 / jaemijamie 
 궁 예질 . 
 Original sentence : “ 내 가 인터 뷰어 들 의 생각 을 궁 예질 ( ? ) 로 느낄 땐 , 뭔가 더 좋 은 것 을 바라 고 있 지 않 을까 … 하 는 생각 ? ” 
 Eventually , I turned to my S . O . , a native Korean , for help . He started laughing – not at me , but at the word . It ’ s a made - up word , one that the original sender invented on the spot ( and thus put his own question mark in parentheses following it ) , but one that pretty much any Korean would guess the meaning of instantly . 
 궁예 ( Gung Ye ) is an actual person from Korean history – and his legendary portrayal in an old Korean drama , 태조 왕건 ( Taejo Wang Geon ) makes him a pop culture reference , too . He was a king and the rival to the historical founder of 고려 , a Korean kingdom . 
 In the drama , though one of his eyes is covered with a patch , he can essentially see people ’ s feelings . He tells them not to lie – and kills them when they do , since he can see their true thoughts . 
 질 , then , is a Korean word or syllable that can be equated to 행동 or action . 손질 , which combines 손 ( hand ) and 질 ( action / movement ) is a noun that combines with 하 다 to form a variety of meanings like to repair , to do one ’ s hair , to fix , to trim , and so on . All hand - based actions . Hands - on . 
 궁예 + 질 then becomes an action or an act of 궁예 . The original sender was comparing himself to 궁예 , saying that in a similar way that 궁예 did , he could sense or feel the interviewers ’ real thoughts and feelings even though they weren ’ t actively conveying how they felt . 
 Funnily enough , I ’ d seen references to 궁예 many times prior to this , but I never knew his name or significance . For example , Kian 84 , who ’ s a regular cast member for 나 혼자 산다 , is obsessed . He watches reruns of the show while he creates webtoons – and sometimes he dresses up , too . 
 Korean variety shows are full of 궁예 references . You just need to look for that golden eyepatch . 
 What other pop culture references have you learned recently ? 
 궁예 , gung ye , korean drama 
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