곱빼기 (gopppaegi)

곱빼기 (gopppaegi) means two bowls’ worth of food packed into a single bowl — and, by extension, “double the amount.” Walk into a neighborhood Chinese restaurant in Korea, take a seat, and before long you’ll hear this order from the next table: 짜장면 곱빼기요 (jjajangmyeon gopppaegiyo). A few minutes later, out comes a bowl that looks exactly like the regular one, except the noodles rise out of it like a mountain. It usually costs about 1,000 to 2,000 won extra. On a seriously hungry day, this is the very first word Koreans reach for.

The fun part is that the word doesn’t stay inside the bowl. On a day when the workload doubles, when the bank balance doubles, when something takes twice as long, Koreans say 곱빼기로 (gopppaegiro). A word that started out in a rice bowl moved on to become a ruler for measuring life. That’s why it always carries a little exaggeration and a little laughter. If 두 배 (du bae), “double,” is the language of a calculator, 곱빼기 (gopppaegi) is the language of the dinner table.

Here’s the nuance in one line. 곱빼기 (gopppaegi) is spoken language. You use it among friends, at restaurants, when you’re grumbling or bragging in a light-hearted way. It rarely appears in documents or official announcements. And it has none of the mathematical precision of “exactly 2.0 times.” In reality, a 곱빼기 (gopppaegi) jjajangmyeon is rarely exactly two servings. The feeling is closer to “a whole lot, overflowing.”

Checking It in the National Institute of Korean Language Dictionary

The National Institute of Korean Language’s Basic Korean Dictionary splits this word into two branches of meaning.

곱빼기 (gopppaegi) 「명사」 (noun)

두 그릇 분량의 음식을 한 그릇에 담은 것. (du geureut bullyangui eumsigeul han geureuse dameun geot.) — Two bowls’ worth of food served in a single bowl. [en] double portion — Two portions contained on one plate. [ja] おおもり【大盛り】 — 二人前の食べ物を一つの皿に盛り込むこと。 [es] doble, dos veces más — Lo que está puesto en un solo plato la porción que corresponde a dos platos. [zh] 双份 — 双份合成一碗。 — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

곱빼기 (gopppaegi) 「명사」 (noun) 2. 두 배의 분량. (du baeui bullyang.) — A double quantity. [en] double — A doubled quantity. [ja] 二倍の分量。 [es] doble, dos veces más — Cantidad doble. [zh] 加倍 — 增为两倍的量。 — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

(The dictionary doesn’t list a Portuguese translation; for reference, it would be something like porção dobrada. That one line is our own rendering, not dictionary material.)

Sense 1 is the meaning inside the bowl; sense 2 is the meaning outside it. This is exactly where learners get tripped up. With sense 1, 곱빼기 (gopppaegi) stays a plain noun — something you order and eat. But sense 2 almost always appears in the adverbial form 곱빼기로 (gopppaegiro). The dictionary’s real usage examples make the difference crystal clear.

곱빼기로 시키다. (gopppaegiro sikida.) — To order it as a double portion. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

This is sense 1, the restaurant meaning. 곱빼기로 시키다 (gopppaegiro sikida) — asking for double the amount when you order. You’ll hear it word for word in phone orders to Chinese restaurants.

곱빼기도 부족하다. (gopppaegido bujokada.) — Even a double portion isn’t enough. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

곱빼기도 부족하다 (gopppaegido bujokada) — meaning even two bowls’ worth wouldn’t be enough. It’s what you toss out half-joking, half-serious on a day you’ve skipped every meal or worked out way too hard. The particle ‘도 (do)’ adds the exaggeration of “even that.”

응, 김 대리 업무까지 대신 하려니 일이 곱빼기로 많아졌어. (eung, gim daeri eommukkaji daesin haryeoni iri gopppaegiro manajyeosseo.) — Yeah, since I have to cover Assistant Manager Kim’s work too, I’ve got double the workload. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

From here on, we’re in sense 2. 일이 곱빼기로 많아졌어 (iri gopppaegiro manajyeosseo) — the situation where a coworker is out and you’ve taken on their share as well. As the ‘응 (eung)’ at the front tells you, this isn’t a sentence for the meeting minutes; it’s a gripe you trade with a colleague.

부부는 열심히 일하며 저금을 했더니 어느 새 통장의 돈이 곱빼기로 늘었다. (bubuneun yeolsimhi ilhamyeo jeogeumeul haetdeoni eoneu sae tongjangui doni gopppaegiro neureotda.) — The couple worked hard and saved, and before they knew it the money in their account had doubled. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

통장의 돈이 곱빼기로 늘었다 (tongjangui doni gopppaegiro neureotda) — proof that it works for good news too. 곱빼기 (gopppaegi) isn’t a negative word. When what doubles is work, it’s a sigh; when it’s money, it’s a grin.

세탁기가 고장 나 직접 손으로 빨래를 하니 시간이 곱빼기로 걸렸다. (setalgiga gojang na jikjeop soneuro ppallaereul hani sigani gopppaegiro geollyeotda.) — The washing machine broke, so doing the laundry by hand took twice as long. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

시간이 곱빼기로 걸렸다 (sigani gopppaegiro geollyeotda) — having to do by hand what a machine used to do, so it took twice the time. As a rule of thumb, it attaches to pretty much anything measurable in quantity: money, time, work, weight.

See It in a Real Conversation

Scene: Emily’s moving day. All the boxes are inside, nothing is unpacked yet, and the two of them have flopped down on the living room floor. Jun-kyung is looking up the number for the neighborhood Chinese place on his phone.

Jun-kyung: 짐 다 들어왔다. 이삿날엔 무조건 짜장면이지. All the stuff is in. Moving day means jjajangmyeon, no question.

Emily: 완전 동의. 나 오늘 계단만 스무 번은 오르내렸어. Totally agree. I went up and down those stairs like twenty times today.

Jun-kyung: 그래서, 뭐 시킬래? 난 짬뽕. So what do you want? I’m getting jjamppong.

Emily: 난 짜장면 곱빼기. 오늘은 일을 곱빼기로 했으니까 좀 먹어도 돼. Jjajangmyeon, double portion for me. I did double the work today, so I’ve earned it.

Jun-kyung: 야, 너 그거 다 못 먹어. 곱빼기 양 진짜 장난 아니야. Hey, you won’t finish that. A double portion here is no joke.

Emily: 무슨 소리야, 오늘은 곱빼기도 모자랄 것 같은데? What are you talking about? Today even a double won’t be enough.

Used This Way, It Sounds Off

✗ (At a hotel restaurant, to the server) 이 파스타 곱빼기로 주세요. (i paseuta gopppaegiro juseyo.) ✓ (At a neighborhood Chinese restaurant) 짜장면 곱빼기로 주세요. (jjajangmyeon gopppaegiro juseyo.) → 곱빼기 (gopppaegi) is ordering vocabulary from casual, everyday eateries — Chinese places and snack shops, where noodles and rice come piled into one bowl. Western restaurants that serve courses, or hotels, don’t offer that option in the first place, so if you bring it up the server will pause for a beat. In settings like that, it’s more natural to ask, “양을 조금 넉넉하게 해 주실 수 있을까요? (yangeul jogeum neongneokhage hae jusil su isseulkkayo?)” — “Could you make the portion a little generous?”

✗ (In a quarterly earnings presentation) 올해 매출이 곱빼기로 늘었습니다. (olhae maechuri gopppaegiro neureotseumnida.) ✓ (In a quarterly earnings presentation) 올해 매출이 두 배로 늘었습니다. (olhae maechuri du baero neureotseumnida.) ✓ (Afterward, to a coworker) 야, 올해 매출 곱빼기로 늘었대. (ya, olhae maechul gopppaegiro neureotdae.) → The grammar isn’t wrong, but the setting is. 곱빼기로 (gopppaegiro) is colloquial language born in a rice bowl, so laying it over an official presentation full of numbers makes you sound flippant and loose. 두 배로 (du baero) for documents and presentations, 곱빼기로 (gopppaegiro) for small talk — keep just that distinction and you’ll sound natural.

Example Sentences by Situation

① When you order by phone instead of a delivery app

Neighborhood Chinese restaurants in Korea still take a lot of phone orders. Here, 곱빼기 (gopppaegi) goes right after the name of the dish.

짜장면 하나 곱빼기로 하고, 탕수육 小자 하나 주세요. (jjajangmyeon hana gopppaegiro hago, tangsuyuk sojja hana juseyo.) An order for one jjajangmyeon as a double portion, plus one small tangsuyuk.

All three of ‘곱빼기로 해 주세요 (gopppaegiro hae juseyo) / 곱빼기로 주세요 (gopppaegiro juseyo) / 곱빼기요 (gopppaegiyo)’ are in use. The last one is the shortest and the most common.

② A night when overtime drags on

팀장님 휴가 가시는 바람에 이번 주는 일이 곱빼기야. (timjangnim hyuga gasineun barame ibeon jueun iri gopppaegiya.) A week where the team lead is away and you’ve picked up their share too. It’s a gripe tossed to a coworker in casual speech. Here ‘곱빼기로 많다 (gopppaegiro manta)’ has been shortened to ‘곱빼기야 (gopppaegiya)’ and used almost like a predicate.

③ When good things come at once

친구 결혼식에서 오랜만에 대학 동기들까지 만나서 기쁨이 곱빼기였어. (chingu gyeolhonsigeseo oraenmane daehak donggideulkkaji mannaseo gippeumi gopppaegiyeosseo.) A happy occasion — a friend’s wedding — with an unexpected reunion stacked on top. It belongs to the same family as the dictionary example we saw earlier, ‘통장의 돈이 곱빼기로 늘었다 (tongjangui doni gopppaegiro neureotda)’: 곱빼기 (gopppaegi) works just as well for good things.

Polite vs. Casual Speech, and Similar Expressions

곱빼기 (gopppaegi) is a noun, so it carries no politeness of its own. The politeness comes from the predicate that follows. At a restaurant, 곱빼기로 주세요 (gopppaegiro juseyo) is the default; very formally, 곱빼기로 부탁드립니다 (gopppaegiro butakdeurimnida); among friends, 곱빼기로 시켜 (gopppaegiro sikyeo). That said, the word’s own temperature runs toward the relaxed end, so it rarely turns up in truly formal settings to begin with.

The differences between it and similar-looking words are clearest in a table.

Expression	Tone / intensity	Where it’s used
곱빼기 (gopppaegi)	Colloquial, easygoing, a bit exaggerated	Ordering at Chinese places and snack shops; small talk with friends and coworkers
두 배 (du bae)	Neutral, calculating	Anywhere. Documents, presentations, the news
곱절 (gopjeol)	Old-fashioned, weighty	Writing, speeches, the speech of older people. Rare in everyday conversation
곱빼기로 (gopppaegiro)	Exaggerated griping or bragging	Before ‘많다 (manta) · 늘다 (neulda) · 걸리다 (geollida) · 힘들다 (himdeulda)’. Spoken language only
사리 추가 (sari chuga)	Practical, neutral	Asking for extra noodles only. Ramyeon, noodle, and naengmyeon shops
특대 (teukdae)	Closer to a product name	A size grade printed on the menu

The pair that’s especially easy to mix up is ‘곱빼기 (gopppaegi)’ and ‘사리 추가 (sari chuga)’. 곱빼기 (gopppaegi) means it comes out as two bowls’ worth from the start, while 사리 추가 (sari chuga) means adding an extra serving of noodles on the side. Jjajangmyeon and jjamppong have 곱빼기 (gopppaegi); budae-jjigae and naengmyeon have 사리 추가 (sari chuga). The dish decides which word you use.

Cultural Background — A Bowl of Jjajangmyeon on Moving Day

Start with how the word is built. The ‘곱 (gop)’ at the front is the same ‘곱’ as in 곱절 (gopjeol) and 곱하기 (gopagi) — an old native Korean element meaning a multiple. The ‘-빼기 (-ppaegi)’ at the back is a suffix attached to nouns to mean “a thing with that quality,” and the same piece shows up in words like ‘코빼기 (koppaegi)’ and ‘밥빼기 (bapppaegi)’. So 곱빼기 (gopppaegi) is, literally, “the doubled thing.” For the record, the correct spelling is 곱빼기; ‘곱배기’ is wrong. Koreans themselves mix this up all the time, so a foreign learner who gets it right looks pretty impressive.

There’s a reason 곱빼기 (gopppaegi) travels so closely with jjajangmyeon. For a long time, Korea’s Chinese restaurants were the very definition of food that was fast, filling, and cheap. The jjajangmyeon you eat off newspaper spread on the floor after hauling in all the boxes on moving day; the tangsuyuk with family on graduation day; the place everyone piled into the day exams ended — 곱빼기 (gopppaegi) is the word for days like those. It goes beyond how hungry you are; it’s closer to giving yourself permission: “today is a day I’m allowed to eat.” That’s exactly the feeling behind Emily’s line in the conversation, “오늘은 일을 곱빼기로 했으니까 (oneureun ireul gopppaegiro haesseunikka).”

Korean dramas are full of Chinese-restaurant scenes, too. On the bare floor of a new apartment on move-in day, on the conference table of an office working late, in a corner of a funeral hall — characters sit down in front of a bowl of jjajangmyeon. You don’t need to memorize the lines. Just know this: if someone lifts the lid off the bowl and says “곱빼기로 시켰어 (gopppaegiro sikyeosseo),” that single phrase contains everything about how much they care for the person across from them. In Korean, the amount of food is often the amount of feeling.

Today’s Quiz

Of the two sentences below, which one is the natural one that Koreans actually say?

A. (Sitting down at a neighborhood Chinese restaurant) 짜장면 곱빼기로 주세요. B. (Presenting quarterly results to the executives) 올해 영업이익이 곱빼기로 늘었습니다.

… Had a think?

Answer: A

B isn’t grammatically wrong. It even fits sense 2 in the dictionary (‘두 배의 분량’, a double quantity) precisely. But 곱빼기 (gopppaegi) is colloquial language that came out of a rice bowl, so it doesn’t fit an official presentation in front of executives. In that room, ‘두 배로 늘었습니다 (du baero neureotseumnida)’ is the right call. Say “올해 이익 곱빼기로 늘었다며? (olhae iik gopppaegiro neureotdamyeo?)” over coffee with a coworker after the presentation, though, and it’s perfectly natural.

Today’s lesson boiled down to one sentence: 곱빼기 (gopppaegi) is the language of the bowl, and the language of the bowl lives where people are comfortable.

Definitions and example sentences are from the National Institute of Korean Language’s Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr); that portion of this post, including our translations, is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.