엄마에게 시한부 소식을 전하는 짧은 대화

What does “시한부” mean in Korean?

시한부 (sihanbu) is the word a K-drama reaches for when a diagnosis turns fatal: it means “terminally ill,” but literally reads “a time limit attached.” The 시한 part is the very same “time limit” hiding inside 시한폭탄, a time bomb — so calling someone 시한부 frames their life as a countdown already ticking. You’ll almost always meet it as 시한부 인생, a “time-limited life.”

Break it into hanja and the metaphor sharpens: 時 (si, time) + 限 (han, limit) + 附 (bu, attached). Everyday collocations include 시한부 선고, a doctor’s terminal “sentence,” and 시한부 판정, a terminal verdict. Beyond illness the modifier tags anything living on a deadline — a 시한부 정권 is a government whose days are numbered. In this exchange a child stammers 나… 나 시한부래 (“I’m… I’m terminal”), where the ending -래 relays what the doctor said as reported speech, letting them break the news to mom secondhand rather than owning the words outright.