종로에서 뺨 맞고 한강 가서 눈 흘긴다 (Jongno-eseo ppyam matgo Hangang gaseo nun heulginda)

Literally: Get slapped in Jongno, then go glare at the Han River

Example: “회사에서 혼나고 집에 와서 동생한테 화내는 건 종로에서 뺨 맞고 한강 가서 눈 흘기는 거야.” — Getting told off at work and then yelling at your brother at home is kicking the cat.

English equivalent: To kick the cat

Origin: A Joseon-era saying, and this is its traditional wording; a modern variant circulates that swaps the Han River for Gangnam Station, keeping the structure and the meaning intact. The saying grew out of real class dynamics in old Seoul commerce: ordinary people bargaining with the established, higher-status merchants of Jongno, the city's prestigious central marketplace, had to stay carefully polite and swallow any frustration, no matter how unfair the deal felt, given the power imbalance involved. Only later, dealing with lower-status street vendors near the Han River — a considerable walk away from Jongno — could that same person finally raise their voice and vent the anger they'd been forced to hold back earlier, safely out of range of the person who had actually wronged them.