그건 사바사야, 너무 걱정하지 마

The line, explained

Before a first tattoo, an audition or a scary dentist appointment, everyone asks the same question: will it hurt? And every wise friend gives the same answer, that it depends. Korean slang has a breezy word for that answer, 사바사, and today's line is a friend saying it while patting your shoulder. It is half Korean, half English, and fully typical of how young Koreans build new words: take a phrase, bolt on some English, then chop the whole thing down to three syllables.

그건 is a contraction of 그것은, "as for that". 그것 means "that thing"; in speech it shrinks to 그거, and with the topic marker 은 it becomes 그건. It points back to whatever was just asked. 사바사야 is the slang word 사바사 plus 야, the casual "is" after a vowel. So 그건 사바사야 is "that's person by person", or "it depends on who you are". In polite speech you could say 사바사예요, but most people switch to the plain 사람마다 달라요 instead.

사바사 is short for 사람 바이 사람. 사람 is the Korean word for "person", and 바이 is the English "by" written in Hangul. Take the first syllable of each part and you get 사, 바, 사. It was modelled on an older Konglish phrase, 케이스 바이 케이스, "case by case", which shrank to 케바케 the same way. Both work as nouns with 이다, and both come with a shrug. They are casual but not rude; use them with friends or a friendly coworker.

너무 means "too, too much", and 걱정하지 마 is 걱정하다, "to worry", plus -지 마, "don't". Together, "don't worry too much". That is the comforting half of the line, and it is how Koreans usually deploy 사바사: not to brush a question off, but to soften a fear. Your experience may be easier than the horror stories. You can also use it as a reason, 사바사라서 직접 해 봐야 알아, "it varies, so you have to try it yourself", or as a one-word reply: 사바사지.

Swap the verdict and feel the tone change: 그건 케바케야 (it's case by case, about situations rather than people), 복불복이야 (it's the luck of the draw, a game-show favourite), 다 달라 (everyone's different, plain Korean), 운이야 (it's just luck). All four still lead into 너무 걱정하지 마. Once you spot the 바 in the middle of a slang word, you know an English "by" is hiding there, and a whole family of Konglish shortcuts opens up.