말이 아니다

Korean

Alternative forms

  • 말도 아니다 (mal-do anida)

Etymology

(mal, speech; language) +‎ -이 (-i, nominative case marker) +‎ 아니다 (anida, to not be). Literally "to not be [in any] language".

Idiom

아니다 • (mar-i anida)

  1. (of a statement) to be unreasonable; to be ridiculous
    말이 아닌 질문 하니?
    Wae mar-i anin jilmun-eul hani?
    Why are you asking this unreasonable question?
    (literally, “Why are you asking this question which is not [in any] language?”)
  2. (by extension, of a situation or appearance) to be very difficult, to be atrocious

Conjugation