Let's learn about "궁지, 이판사판"

사람은 지독한 궁지에 몰리면 이판사판으로 행동한다 : When a person fall into an awful predicament, he or she acts like he or she gets everything or nothing

[explanations]

* 사람 : human being

* -은 : a particle makes 사람 subjective after a word ends in a consonant

* 지독한 : [至毒한] [심하다] severe; violent; sharp; intense; hard; bitter; serious; heavy; foul(병이); [무섭다] terrible; dreadful; frightful; fearful; awful; gross; ghastly; [엄청나다] exorbitant; outrageous; [잔인하다] cruel; harsh; hard; inhuman

* 궁지 : [窮地) [=궁경(窮境)] (1) [=살아갈 길이 막연함] (생활의) poverty; destitution (2) [=매우 어려운 일을 당한 처지•곤란한 지경] a difficult situation; a predicament; a sad[sorry] plight; a dilemma; extremity; a fix; a hot-seat

- 궁지에 몰리다 =  궁지에 몰려 있다 : stand[be] at bay / be pushed to the wall / be driven into a corner / be placed in a fix

- 궁지에 몰아넣다 = 궁지에 빠뜨리다 :  drive[push] into a (tight) corner / put in a hole[fix] / have over a barrel

- 그는 궁지에 빠졌다 : He was caught in a dilemma. / He fell into an awful predicament

- 그는 궁지에서 겨우 빠져 나왔다 : He managed to escape from his predicament

- 그는 친구를 궁지에 빠뜨렸다 : He drove his friend into a corner

- 나는 파산하여 궁지에 빠져 있다 : I've gone bankrupt and am in a terribly difficult situation

* 궁지에 몰리면 : 궁지에 몰리다 + -면(if; when)

* 이파사판 : 막다른 데에 이르러 어찌할 수 없는 지경(to the point of being at a dead end)

- 불교수행을 하는 "이판승"과 절 살림을 도맡은 "사판승"을 합쳐서 부르는 말에서 유래한 말임(It is derived from the combination of "Lee Pan-seung," who practices Buddhism, and "Sapan-seung," who is in charge of the temple's housekeeping)

- 이판사판으로 행동하다 : act like all-or-nothing

- 이판사판의 승부 an all-or-nothing contest

- 이판사판해보겠다 : I'll take a chance on it / I'll give it a try, sink or swim. / Let's go for broke!

* 행동하다 : act; behave

* 행동한다 : present tense of 행동하다 by '-ㄴ'