하늘의 별 따기 (Plucking a Star from the Sky)

하늘의 별 따기 is a bit tricky, so let’s take it apart first.

• 하늘 means sky.
• -의 is a possessive marker that works like -‘s in English. (So, “the sky’s star.”)
• 별 is a Korean word for star.
• 따다 is a verb that can mean a number of things like pick, pluck, gain, or attain. Remember that -다 is part of the base form and comes off.
• -기 is like -ing in English (a gerund or verb turned noun). This -기 attaches to the base of a verb, so here 따다 (to pluck)  loses the -다 and gets the -기 to become 따기 (plucking).

Roughly 하늘의 별 따다 means to pick, pluck, or attain a star in the sky, and the phrase carries a meaning similar to the English expression “pie in the sky” — something alluring and out of reach that’s realistically unattainable.

So, if something is practically impossible, you can get metaphorical and say 하늘의 별 따기예요. Here -예요 means “it is” so essentially you’re saying, “It is [like] plucking a star from the sky.”

삼천포로 빠졌다 (Fell in Samcheonpo)

Koreans have an idiomatic expression that goes something like: “잘 가다가 삼천포로 빠진다.” Things were going well and then fell into Samcheonpo.

삼천포 is a part of the sea (and town) on the southern coast of the Korean peninsula, and Koreans say you fell in 삼천포 when you wander off topic, get sidetracked, or fly off on a tangent in a conversation (or so that’s what we’ve gathered). There are various folk mythologies about the origin of this idiom, usually having to do with a trader blown off course or a navy man returning to service and taking the wrong train.

• –로 means “in” or “into” (and in other contexts can mean “toward”, “by”, “by means of”, “through”, “via” and more).
• 빠지다 means “to fall into” something (like a lake or love), and that’s 빠졌다 in past tense (“fell into”). Watch out because 빠지다 can have many other meanings.