Today, the word "개뿔" came up in Episode 4 of Protect the Boss. My language partner couldn't really explain the meaning to me so I went online for some answers. No wonder it was difficult for him - it's the slang version of the  N 무슨 construction. (Which, in my rough translation, means "Noun + what is.")

 

What does "개뿔" is formed from two words: 개 (dog) + 뿔 (horn) 

It means 'something unimportant or not very valuable.'

 

This is best illustrated and learned with examples.

Example 1

N + 는 무슨 construction:

A: 공부하고있니?
B: 공부무슨, TV 보고있어.

A: Are you studying? 
B: Forget studying, I'm watching TV.

For the slang version of the pattern, you use 개뿔 instead of 무슨

A: 공부하고있니?
B: 공부개뿔, TV 보고있어.

A: Are you studying? 
B: Forget studying, I'm watching TV.

However, it's incorrect to assume that 무슨 or 개뿔 mean "forget" based on example 1. 

 

Example 2

N + 는 무슨 construction:

A: 그 여자랑 잘되니?
B: 잘되기무슨, 전화도 안해.

A: Did it go well with that girl? 
B: Yeah right, she won't even call.

Slang version:

A: 그 여자랑 잘되니?
B: 잘되기는 개뿔, 전화도 안해.

A: Did it go well with that girl? 
B: Yeah right, she won't even call.

Example 2 shows that rather than having a specific translation, 무슨 and 개뿔 serve to kind of contradict the previous statement. 

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