엄마 도시락과 미국 마트 저녁 이야기

What does “maeume ssok deulda” mean in Korean?

마음에 들다 literally means “to enter one’s heart,” and it is how Korean says you like something. Add the mimetic 쏙, the sound of a thing slipping neatly into place, and 마음에 쏙 들다 is liking something exactly, with nothing left over. It is the phrase for the gift that turns out to be perfect, not merely nice.

The clip uses it for a mother who took to an American supermarket on sight: 미국 마트가 마음에 쏙 든 엄마. 쏙 does the same work elsewhere — 쏙 빼닮다, to look exactly like a parent. Note the grammar too: Korean makes liking something happen to you, so it is 이 옷이 마음에 들어요, with the clothes as subject.