Why do some Koreans fear turning 19?

ANSWER: Because it usually means they are seniors in high school, a stressful time for many as they prepare to take the all important college entrance exam.

Below is another song by HAIL entitled "Nineteen," an age that Koreans usually turn when they are seniors in high school preparing to take their college entrance exams. In the song, a girl is worried about turning 19 and talks to herself, and to "Nineteen," about the stress she is feeling. Since Koreans calculate their age differently, in the United States the girl would only be turning 18.

"열아홉"
"Nineteen"

나에겐 고3이 안 올 줄 알았어
I never thought my senior year would come,

선배들 앓는 소리는 그저 남 얘기였지.
That the complaints of former seniors would be mine.

갑자기 선생님이 등을 찰싹 때려
But suddenly my teacher is slapping me on the back,

수능이 며칠 남았는데 자는 거니
Saying, “Sleeping with the entrance exam just days away?”

열아홉 자정에 도착한 거야.
Nineteen arrived at midnight.

무한도전 하나 맘 편히 볼 수도 없는
Though “Infinite Challenge” is on TV, I’m too stressed to watch it,

보고 싶은 영환 예고편으로 만족해야 하는
And I must be satisfied with trailers of movies I want to see.

열아홉은 왜 꼭 힘들지
Why must nineteen be so difficult?

누가 정한 거야 이 시험은
And who came up with this exam?

하룻밤 자면 스물일 순 없나?
Can’t I just sleep and be twenty when I wake?

열아홉 꼭 나에게 왔어야 했나 하는 질문 말고
Instead of saying, “Why must Nineteen come to me?”

열아홉 내가 널 지금껏 리다렸다고.”
Say, “Nineteen, I’ve been waiting for you all this time.”

우리의 만남을 피하려고 했지만
“Yes, I tried to avoid meeting you,

이제는 내가 널 사랑해보겠다고
“but now I will try loving you.”

힘들어도 잘 부탁해, 오 나의 열아홉
“Oh, my Nineteen, though it will be hard, please guide me.”

별들이 사르르 녹아드는 밤에
As stars softly melted into the night,

책상 앞에서 말했어 언제 끝나는 걸까
At my desk I asked, “When does it end?”

힘내라는 말로도 위로가 되지 않는 이 마음은
When even words of encouragement are uncomforting,

열아홉 자정에 도착한 거야.
Nineteen arrived at midnight.

일 년 뒤에 난 과연 어떤 모습일까
I wonder what I will look like in a year?

이렇게 자라서 아무 것도 없으면 어쩌지
What if I continue growing like this for nothing?

열아홉은 왜 꼭 힘들지
Why must nineteen be so difficult?

누가 정한 거야 이 시험은
And who came up with this exam?

하룻밤 자면 스물일 순 없나?
Can’t I just sleep and be twenty when I wake?

열아홉 꼭 나에게 왔어야 했나 하는 질문 말고
Instead of saying, “Why must Nineteen come to me?”

열아홉 내가 널 지금껏 리다렸다고.”
Say, “Nineteen, I’ve been waiting for you all this time.”

우리의 만남을 피하려고 했지만
“Yes, I tried to avoid meeting you," 

이제는 내가 널 사랑해보겠다고
“But now I will try loving you.”

힘들어도 잘 부탁해, 오 나의 열아홉
“Oh, my Nineteen, though it will be hard, please guide me.”

우리 하나만 기억해
"Let’s remember one thing."

그 날이 지나도
"Even when that day was over,"

언제나 그랬듯
"As if it were always so,"

넌 눈이 부신 걸
"You were dazzling."

What does 용트림 mean?

ANSWER: "a dragon belch"

The Chinese character 龍 (룡/용) means "dragon," and the pure Korean word 트림 means "burp" or "belch," so 용트림 literally means "dragon belch," conjuring up the image of the belch of a fire-breathing dragon. It is used to refer to a big belch done in a haughty manner, sometimes to impress immature friends.

However, these days the word 용트림 is also being used by some Koreans who smoke electronic cigarettes (vapers) to refer to the blowing out of vaping smoke, which looks very similar to that of a fire-breathing dragon.

Be careful not to confuse 용트림 with 용틀임. Though the two words are pronounced the same and use the same 용 (dragon), they have different meanings. 용틀임 literally means "the twisting of a dragon" and refers to a decorative engraving or picture of a long, twisting serpent-like dragon. It can also refer to fire or smoke spiraling up into the air in a whirlwind-like fashion. The phrase 용틀임을 하다 can also be used to refer to someone ambitiously rising up to achieve some desire or goal.

The following video shows a woman teaching vapers how to do different kinds of "dragon belches" (용트림). I am not posting the video to promote vaping, which doctors are now saying can cause lung damage. I am just posting it to show what vapers mean by "dragon belch." Please do not vape.

What does the Korean word 자몽 mean?

ANSWER: "Grapefruit." But can it also mean "love"?

The following is a song by the female singing duo "Hail" (헤일). The song is entitled "자몽," which means "grapefruit," but in the song the word 자몽 is used as a substitute for the word "사랑," which means "love."

"자몽" (Grapefruit)

그때 내가 마신 건 자몽차
I was drinking grapefruit tea,
뜨거움도 채 다 식기전에 넌
when before it had even cooled,
나가자며 내 손을 잡아 끌어
you said, “Let’s go,” grabbing my hand and pulling me.
참을성도 없지
So impatient. 

진지해보이는 네 눈빛에 난
Seeing the seriousness in your eyes,
갑자기 숨이 쉬어지지 않아서
I suddenly became breathless.
목도리에 달아올라버린 볼을 묻고
 My flushed cheeks buried in my scarf
서서히 녹는다
were slowly melting.

자몽 숨이 점점 가빠와
My grapefruit breath became pants.
그렇게 가빠와 점점
Those pants increased more and more
너의 품이 점점 다가와
as your embrace came closer and closer,
점점 oh –
closer and closer. Oooh!

자몽자몽자몽자몽 나 널 자몽해
Jamong, jamong, jamong, jamong—I jamong you.
자몽자몽자몽 너 없인 다 잘 못해
Jamong, jamong, jamong—I’m lost without you.
자몽자몽자몽자몽 넌 날 자몽해
Jamong, jamong, jamong, jamong—you jamong me, too.
자몽자몽자몽 또 우리 이제 뭐해
Jamong, jamong, Jamong—now what else shall we do?

그 때 네가 고른건 자몽에이드
You then selected grapefruit-ade.
내가 꽂은 빨대 두 갤 보더니
When you saw I had inserted two straws,
정없다며 하난 숨겨버리고
 you said it lacked affection and removed one.
"진짜 이렇게 하라고?"
“Really? Like this?”

한껏 나와있는 네 입술에 난
When your lips came close to mine,
갑자기 숨이 쉬어지지 않아서
I suddenly became breathless.
얼음 한조각을 입에 넣으니
A chuck of ice in my mouth
서서히 녹는다
was slowly melting.

자몽 숨이 점점 가빠와
My grapefruit breath became pants.
그렇게 가빠와 점점
Those pants increased more and more
네 입술이 점점 다가와
as your lips came closer and closer.
점점 oh –
Closer and closer, oooh!

자몽자몽자몽자몽 나 널 자몽해
Jamong, jamong, jamong, jamong—I jamong you.
자몽자몽자몽 너 없인 다 잘 못해
Jamong, jamong, jamong—I’m lost without you.
자몽자몽자몽자몽 넌 날 자몽해
Jamong, jamong, jamong, jamong—you jamong me, too.
자몽자몽자몽 또 우리 이제 뭐해
Jamong, jamong, jamong—now what shall we do?

자몽 자몽 널 사랑해
Jamong, jamong—I love you.
사랑이란 말은 흔해
The word “love” is too often used.
자몽자몽 널 자몽해
Jamong, jamong, so I jamong you.

내사랑 자몽아
My love is Jamong.

자몽자몽자몽자몽 나 널 자몽해
Jamong, jamong, jamong, jamong—I jamong you.
자몽자몽자몽 너 없인 다 잘 못해
Jamong, jamong, jamong—I’m lost without you.
자몽자몽자몽자몽 넌 날 자몽해
Jamong, jamong, jamong, jamong—you jamong me, too.
자몽자몽자몽 또 우리 이제 뭐해
Jamong, jamong, jamong—now what else shall we do?

What's the difference between a "sweat group" and a "no-sweat group"?

ANSWER: Nothing

The Sino-Korean word 불한당 (不汗黨) means "a group of robbers or bandits," but the Chinese characters literally translate as "no (不) sweat (汗) group (黨)" or "a group that does not sweat." 한당 (汗黨) is just the abbreviated form of 불한당, so 한당 and 불한당 both mean "a group of robbers."

According to THIS KOREAN ARTICLE, the origin of the word is unclear, but there are, at least, two suggestions for its current meaning.

One suggestion is that a group of bandits are so heartless that they do not sweat over, much less cry over, the atrocities they commit. The other suggestion is that rather than work hard and "sweat" to make a living, bandits choose to steal from those who have sweated to earn what they have.

Wouldn't you like to test your Korean?

ANSWER: Of course you would. Who wouldn't?

If you would like to "Test Your Korean," there is a button for it at the bottom of This Page, and it is free.

By the way, I am really impressed with the way the "Talk to me in Korean" group teaches Korean. They seem to be Korean-teaching dynamos. You can see many of their videos on YouTube. Here is one of them.

What does 고인(故人) mean?

ANSWER: a dead person

The Chinese character 故(고) means "ancient," and 人(인) means "person," so 고인(故人) literally means "an ancient person." Since ancient people are dead people, if you become an ancient person, you become a dead person. That is why the phrase 고인 되다 means "to die."

But 고인(故人) can also mean "an old friend" since 고(故) is the same 고 used in 고향(故鄕), which means "hometown" or one's "old (故) village (鄕)." So, 고인(故人) or 고우(故友) is another way to say 고향 친구, which means "hometown friend" or "childhood friend."

By the way, the Korean word for "dolmen" is 고인돌. Even though it is supposedly a pure Korean word, I wonder if it originally meant "dead people rocks" (故人돌).

What does "bulgogi" (불고기) literally mean?

ANSWER: probably "red (불) meat (고기)"

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines "bulgogi" (불고기) as follows:

a Korean dish of thinly sliced, marinated beef that is grilled or panfried

So, Merriam Webster says bulgogi is made from "beef," and there are Korean dictionaries that say the same thing. My Korean-Korean dictionary does not specify "beef," but says bulgogi is made from 살코기, which my Korean-English dictionary defines as "lean (red) meat." Though "red meat" often implies beef, Wikipedia says that "adult or gamey mammals" are also considered "red meat," such as horse meat, mutton, venison, boar, and hare. Wikipedia also says that most poultry and young mammals--such as rabbit, veal, and lamb--are "white meat."

Many sources, including Wikipedia, claim bulgogi (불고기) literally means "fire meat," implying "roasted meat," but it seems the only reason they claim that is because 불 is the pure Korean word for "fire." However, 불 is also a pure Korean suffix that means "red."

Here are some Korean words that use 불 to mean "red":

• 불개미 red ants
• 불거리 red sunrise (used in North Korea)
• 불거지 red sunset (used in North Korea)
• 불겅이 reddish object, a fresh red pepper, reddish pipe tobacco
• 불곰 brown bear, sometimes called a grizzly bears  (has reddish brown fur)
• 불그데데하다 be reddish
• 불그레하다 be reddish, be tinged with red
• 불그스름하다 be a little reddish
• 불그죽죽하다 be somberly reddish
• 불긋 불긋 with red spots
• 불물 rusty water (used in North Korea)
• 불암소 a reddish female cow or heifer
• 불여우 red fox
• 불콩 a red bean

One problem with claiming that 불고기 means "fire meat" or "roasted meat" is that the Korean language already has a word that means "roasted meat," and that word is 고기구이. The pure Korean suffix "-구이" comes from the pure Korean verb 굽다, which means "to roast," and there is a long list of words that use the suffix 구이, including the following:

• 가리비구이 grilled or roasted scallops (not 불가리비)
• 가자미구이 grilled or roasted halibut (not 불가자미)
• 고등어구이 grilled or roasted mackerel (not 불고등어)
• 곱창구이 grilled or roasted pork or cow intestines (not 불곱창)
• 닭구이 grilled or roasted chicken (not 불닭 to mean roasted chicken)
• 돼지구이 grilled or roasted pork (not 불돼지)
• 버섯구이 grilled or roasted mushrooms (not 불버석)
• 두부구이 grilled or roasted tofu (not 불두부)
• 삼치구이 grilled or roasted Japanese seerfish (not 불삼치)
• 새우구이 grilled or roasted shrimp (not 불새우)
• 생선구이 grilled or roasted fish (not 불생선)
• 생치구이 grilled or roasted pheasant (not 불생치)
• 석화구이 grilled roasted clams (not 불석화)
• 양구이 grilled or roasted sheep (not 불양)
• 장어구이 grilled or roasted eel (not 불장어)
• 전복구이 grilled or roasted abalone (not 불전복)
• 조개구이 grilled or roasted oysters (not 불조개)
• 조기구이 grilled or roasted croaker (not 불조기)

So, the pure Korean word for "roasted" seems to be 구이, not 불. And that strongly suggests that the 불 in 불고기 did not originally mean "fire" or "roasted," but rather "red." That would explain why Koreans think of "beef" (red meat) when they hear the word 불고기, not of some other meat, such as fish or chicken.

The first time the word 불고기 appeared in print was in a 1922 Korean novel entitled "墮落者 (타락자), in which the angry face of a man named 궐 was described as looking like "a lump of red meat placed on top of a blazing charcoal fire" (궐의 얼굴은 마치 이글이글 타는 숯불 위에 놓여 있는 불고기 덩이 같았다.)

Since a man's face turns red when he is angry, it makes more sense that the face of the man in the 1922 novel was described as "a lump of red meat" (불고기 덩이) cooking on a fire instead of as "a lump of roasted (fire) meat" cooking on a fire.

A "red meat" translation also makes more sense since "chicken" (닭고기) and "fish" (물고기) can also be "roasted meat," but I have never heard or read a description of an angry man's face looking like "a piece of chicken."

These days Koreans attach the word 불 (fire) to certain foods to mean "hot and spicy," such as 불닭 (hot and spicy chicken), but that is different from "roasted."

When do Korean babies go from "new-born" (신생아) to "infant" (영아)?

ANSWER: At 4 weeks

A new-born baby (신생아 新生兒) is a “new-born baby” for the first 4 weeks of its life. After that, until it is 1-year old, it is an “infant” (영아 嬰兒). From 1 up to 6 years old, it is a “preschool child” (유아 乳兒). And from 6 to 12 years old, it is a “preadolescent child” (아동 兒童). From 12 to 19 years old, it is an "adolescent child" (소년 少年 or 청소년 靑少年). And from 20 to 64 years old, it is an “adult” (어른). From 65 years old until whenever, it is a “senior citizen” (노인).

The above is just my general interpretation of the information provided in the pages shown below, which are taken from the book shown below. Certain laws and regulations in Korea define some of the terms slightly differently, something that is explained in the book.

The guy who wrote the book is the same guy who wrote the THIS BOOK. As for my using "it" in my description, feel free to substitute your preferred pronouns.

What's the difference between 왔어요 and 왔었어요?

ANSWER: one means "came" and the other means "came (and went)" 

This morning I picked up the book pictured below and read the article also pictured below. The article talks about the difference between 왔어요 and 왔었어요, and gives the following two example sentences to help show the difference:

1. "아까 친구가 왔어요." 
2. "아까 친구가 왔었어요." 

The article says the first sentence means "A friend came a little while ago (and is still here or maybe not)," and the second sentence means "A friend came a little while ago, (but is no longer here). The article says the first sentence is in the past tense and the second is in the past perfect tense. 

But a man named Lee Su-yeol (이수열) claims that "past perfect" is alien to Korea and has been adopted into Korean from English. Instead of saying, "아까 친구가 왔었어요," Mr. Lee claims Koreans would traditionally say, "아까 친구가 왔다 갔어요," which translates as, "A friend came and left a little while ago." 

Even the KBS research team, the people who wrote the book, explained that "아까 친구가 왔었어요" means "아까 친구가 왔다가 돌아갔다," which translates as "A friend came and left a little while ago." In other words, the KBS team used a sentence that Koreans clearly understand to explain a sentence many Koreans apparently do not understand. 

So, if you disagree with Mr. Lee's claim that the past perfect tense is alien to Korea, then why is the KBS book explaining 왔었어요 instead of 왔다 갔어요?

Finally, which sentence is correct and why? 

1. "우리 전에 본 적이 있었죠." 
2. "우리 전에 본 적이 있죠." 

Sentence (2) is correct because "우리 전에 본 적이 있다" translates as "We've met before," which means the sentence is already in the past tense and, therefore, does not need the past tense tag "었죠." 

The first sentence seems to be imitating the English-style tag question: "We've met before, haven't we?" But Koreans just say, "We've met before, right?" as in the second sentence. 

So, it seems English grammar is influencing Korean grammar. 

How does Korean poet Kim So-yeon (김소연) define "moon" (달)?

달

"변해가는 모든 모습에서 '예쁘다'라는 말을 들어온 유일무이한 존재."

Moon

"In all its states of change, the one and only entity that has heard the word '예쁘다'"

예쁘다 can translate as "pretty," "beautiful," or "lovely."

The above Korean and the page below come from Korean poet Kim So-yeon's book "Dictionary of Single Words" ("한 글자 사전"). The English translation is mine. 

What does "뱃사람의 계집은 뱃사람다워야 한다" mean?

ANSWER: "The wife of a sailor must be like a sailor."

In the expression "뱃사람의 계집은 뱃사람다워야 한다," the word 뱃사람 means sailor, literally boat (배) person (사람); the word 계집 can mean either woman, wife, or mistress; the word -답다 attaches to nouns and means to be like; and the ending -어야 한다 means must.

The expression means a wife should adopt the ways of her husband. To help better explain the expression, here is a story:

A maiden (처녀) of a poor but noble family (“yangban” 양반)) married a sailor (뱃사람). The food, clothing, and customs of her husband’s life were naturally different from those of her yangban family (친정), but she became comfortable with the customs of sailors.

The labor pains (진통) started sometime before the sailor’s wife was ready to give birth (출산). During a difficult birth (난산) in a yangban’s house, if the wife grabs hold of her husband’s topknot (상투) and pulls hard, the baby slides out easily, but that is not the custom of sailors. Instead, sailors sit next to their wives and repeatedly sing part of a song sailors sing as they struggle together to pull in a fishing net: “어기여차, 어기여차, 어기여차,” which translates in English as "Heave-ho! Heave-ho! Heave-ho!

The story comes from the following book. The rough English translation is mine.