What does 중꺾마 (jung-kkeok-ma) mean? How a reporter's video title became Korea's motto

There's a sticky note on our editor's laptop from the winter of 2022. It says “중꺾마.” Those three syllables got our editor through many a night before deadline. But ask who said it first, and our editor wasn't sure. A footballer? A pro gamer? Neither, it turns out. Today we follow those three syllables, date by date.

1. October 9, 2022

   New York, right after a loss

   DRX had just lost its first group-stage match at Worlds to Europe's Rogue. Meeting Kukinews reporter Moon Dae-chan that day, Deft said, “We lost today, but if we don't fall apart among ourselves, I think we can definitely win.” The reporter boiled that down into the video title “중요한 것은 꺾이지 않는 마음” — later tweaked to “중요한 건” (Kukinews).

2. November 6, 2022

   The underdog wins

   DRX, sixth in the Korean league and a qualifier-round entrant, beat T1 in the final to win Worlds. Deft, a 10-year veteran with no previous world title, told the press conference that an unbreaking heart mattered most. That, Kukinews says, is when the meme was complete.

3. November 2022

   Out of gaming

   On November 8 the phrase turned up in a sports story about Kiwoom's comeback loss in the Korean Series; on November 17 it cheered on students sitting the college entrance exam (Kukinews).

4. December 3, 2022

   A flag in Qatar

   Korea beat Portugal 2–1 to reach the World Cup round of 16 for the first time in 12 years. Afterwards, players held up a Korean flag inscribed with the phrase; Kukinews says a fan in the stands handed it over. Opta had given Korea a 9.9% chance of advancing.

5. December 6–7, 2022

   “Quote of the year”

   Yonhap called it “the best quote of the year.” At his homecoming press conference on the 7th, Son Heung-min said the players had fought with unbreaking hearts. More than 1,000 Instagram posts tagged #중꺾마 appeared after the Portugal match (Kukinews).

6. 2023

   It's OK to break: 중꺾그마

   On comedian Park Myung-soo's YouTube show 할명수, the crew comforted him with “중꺾마,” and he shot back with “a heart that just keeps going even when it breaks.” The clip spread, and Weekly Kyunghyang called it a more grown-up take on the original.

7. October 2026

   A slang case study

   When Edaily analyzed how fast 31 slang words popular since 2016 crossed between generations, 중꺾마 was on the list alongside 갓생 and 알빠노.

So 중꺾마 was born as a reporter's one-line summary of a player's words. Kukinews flatly marked the idea that “Deft said it first” as false. Yet the phrase is remembered as Deft's, for a simple reason: his results proved it before the words did. It's a rare catchphrase where one person wrote the line and another made it true.

The key is “won't break,” not “will win.” It promises nothing about the result — only that your spirit won't collapse while you're losing. So people use it to cheer others on and to steady themselves. At the end of 2022, Korean media reported that plenty of people had put “꺾이지 않는 마음” in their KakaoTalk status messages. Kindred words include 갓생, a diligent “god-tier life,” and 존버, hanging on to the bitter end. If 존버 is about holding out, 중꺾마 is about the heart that does the holding.

• 1차 면접 떨어졌다고? 괜찮아, 중꺾마!You didn't pass the first interview? It's fine — 중꺾마!KakaoTalk to a job-hunting friend
• 전반 0대 1이어도 아직 몰라. 중요한 건 꺾이지 않는 마음이니까Down 0–1 at the half, but it's not over. What matters is a heart that won't break.Halftime, watching at a chicken joint
• 다이어트 3일 차에 야식 먹었지만 중꺾마로 내일 다시 시작한다Ate a midnight snack on day three of my diet, but 중꺾마 — starting again tomorrow.A promise to yourself
• 중꺾마는 모르겠고 중꺾그마로 갑니다. 꺾였는데 그냥 해요Forget 중꺾마, I'm going 중꺾그마. Broken, doing it anyway.Monday morning, team messenger

So 중꺾마 was born in a reporter's summary, proven by a player's title run and spread by a nation's football team. Our editor's sticky note has faded since, but it's still there. Lately a second one has joined it: “중꺾그마.” If you have a sharper definition, add it to the 중꺾마 entry in the dictionary.