대가리

First attested in the Worin seokbo (月印釋譜 / 월인석보), 1459, as Middle Korean ᄃᆡ골 (Yale: tòykwòl). The noun suffix 이 (-i) was later attached.

The word is generally considered a compound, but the etymology is not fully clear. The second component is probably 골 (gol, “brain”). For the first element, compare Jeju 데멩이 (demeng'i, “head”), Jeolla dialect 대망 (daemang, “forehead”), and beyond Korean, Chinese 頭 (MC dəu, “head”), Proto-Mongolic *teriün (“head”).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [tɛɡa̠ɾi] ~ [te̞ɡa̠ɾi]
• Phonetic hangul: [대가리/데가리]

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 대가리의 / 대가리에 / 대가리까지

  Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch on the second syllable, and lowers the pitch of subsequent suffixes.

대가리 • (daegari)

1. (colloquial) head of an animal

   Hypernym: 머리 (meori, “head”)

2. (vulgar, derogatory) head of a person

   걔는 대가리에 도대체 뭐가 들었길래 이렇게 멍청하냐?

   gyae-neun daegari-e dodaeche mwo-ga deureotgillae ireoke meongcheonghanya?

   What on earth does he have inside his head that he's as stupid as this?

3. (slang) boss

   학교 대가리 ― hakgyo daegari ― school boss (usually a delinquent student good at physical fights who is influential among the student body)

—대가리 • (-daegari)

1. A vulgarizing, pejorative suffix.

   멋도 없이 > 멋대가리도 없이 ― meot-do eopsi > meotdaegari-do eopsi ― with no taste > with no fucking taste