death of a thousand cuts

Meaning: If something is suffering the death of a thousand cuts, or death by a thousand cuts,  lots of small bad things are happening, none of which are fatal in themselves, but which add up to a slow demise.  It could be of habitual, financial, or relational in nature.  The use “of” of the phrase can be replaced with “by” for a similar meaning.  가랑비에 옷 젖는 줄 모른다.    일어날때는 심각하게 느끼지 않지만 , 점차 크게 영향을 미칠 수 있다는 말로,  습관이나, 불운이 계속 되어 결국 생존이 어렵게 되는 경우에 사용된다. 전치사 “of”는 “by”와 바꿔 쓸 수 있다. 희망이 없는 상황에 빠져 하루 하루 죽어 간다는 표현이다.

Origin: This saying comes from westerners reporting back the Chinese punishment of Lingchi which was   used for the torture and execution of a living person, or applied as an act of humiliation after death. It was meted out for offenses against the Confucian value system such as acts of treason, mass murder, patricide or the murder of one's master or employer. Death by a thousand cuts (simplified Chinese: 杀千刀; traditional Chinese: 殺千刀), was a form of execution used in China from roughly 900 AD until its abolition in 1905. In this form of execution, the condemned person was killed by using a knife to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period of time. This practice horrified the Westerners and they reported widely back to Europe & USA , and begins to appear in the English language from the late 1800’s onward. In the West, it was known as “Flaying & Mutilation”, also known as being "skinned alive", this horrific execution method has been performed in a variety of different ways. Some variations include the amputation of body parts as the executioner literally whittles his victim down to a bloody pile of organs and appendages. The dreaded "Death of a Thousand Cuts" is an example of this.

기원: 이 숙어는900년전 부터 1905년까지 중국에서 “Lingchi” ( 杀千刀; 殺千刀)라는 사형 제도가 있었는데, 이를 목격한 서양 사람들이 영어로이렇게 썼다. 이 벌은 부모나 많은 사람들을 죽였다든지 반역 행위를 했을때 행해졌다.오랜 시간에 걸쳐 칼로살아있는 사람의 살을 한 점씩도려 내는 잔인한 형벌이었다. 서양에서도 “Flaying & Mutilation”이라는 이와 비슷한 형벌이 있었다.

Sample Dialogue A:    Paul)  Inner City kids don’t have a chance. It’s death of thousand cuts.

                                          슬럼에 사는 아이들에게는 기회가 없어. 잘 줄 모를 뿐이지.

                                Young)  Especially, kids who do drugs, it’s death by thousand cuts.          

                                                특히 마약에 중독된 아이들은 희망이 없어.

                                  Paul)  Drugs leads to violence, and guns lead to jail.

                                                마약은 폭력을 부르고, 총은 그들을 감옥으로 인도하지.

                                Young) Their poor worried mothers are dying a death of thousand cuts too.

                                                불쌍한 엄마들이  하루 하루 죽어 가고 있어.

              Dialogue B:   Young) When is this recession going to be over? It’s a death of thousand cuts.

                                                       이 불황기는 언제 끝날까? 하루 하루 지친다.

                                        Paul)  My store is going through death by thousand cuts too. Already it's 4years.

                                                 내 가게도 이제 닫아야 돼. 벌써 4년 째 야.

                                   Young)  Gas prices and Tolls just keep going up, everything but my income.

                                                     내 수입만 뻬고는 개스니 톨비니 다 올라 갔어.

                                  Paul)  It’s death by thousand cuts for the American middle class.

                                                 미국 중산층은 이제 서서히 없어지고 있어.