What does the 꾸 in 말대꾸 mean?

ANSWER: phrase?

My Korean-English dictionary defines 말대꾸 (-對-) as "a retort" or "a severe (incisive) reply," and the verb 말대꾸하다 means "to talk back," something parents do not like their kids to do.

Anyway, the 말 in 말대꾸 is obviously the pure Korean word for "talk," and the 대(對) is the same 대 that is used in the Sino-Korean word 대답 (對答), which means "a reply" or "an answer." So, even though 말대 (말對) and 말대답 (말對答) essentially mean the same thing, Koreans do not say 말대; instead, they say either 말대꾸하다 or 말대답하다 for "to talk back," though 말대꾸하다 seems to be used more often than 말대답하다.

So, why do Koreans say 말대꾸 instead of just 말대? Well, I think the 대꾸 in 말대꾸 was originally 대구 (對句), which literally means "a responding (對) phrase (句)" but can translate as "a rhyming couplet," like those used in poetry.

Apparently, Koreans used to play a rhyming game where one person would start a rhyming couplet and another would finish it. So, 말대꾸 (-對-) was probably originally 말대구 (말對句), which instead of having a negative connotation had a fun connotation.

Below is another story from "Eo-u's Unofficial Histories" (어우야담 於于野談), written by Joseon scholar and official Yu Mong-in (유몽인 柳夢寅), who lived from 1559 to 1623 and whose pen-name was "Eo-u" (어우 於于). The story is about a young Chae Mu-il (채무일 蔡無逸) and his doting grandfather Chae Su (채수 蔡壽). Chae Mu-il was a talented Joseon civil servant (문신 文臣), a writer (문인 文人), and a painter (화가 畵家), who lived from 1496 to 1546. His grandfather, who lived from 1449 to 1515, was apparently also talented since he held many positions in the government, including being the governor of Chungcheong Province (충청도관차사 忠淸道觀察使) and the top official at the Saheonbu (사헌부 司憲府), which was kind of like the Supreme Court of the Joseon Kingdom. Chae Su was also headmaster of Seonggyungwan (성균관 成均館), which was the top educational institution in the Joseon Kingdom.

What follows is the story of Chae Mu-il (채무일 蔡無逸) and his grandfather Chae Su (채수 蔡壽) playing a game of "responding couplet" (대구 對句). Pay attention to the number of syllables and other similarities of the couplets.
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Chae Su (蔡壽 채수) had (有 유) a grandson (孫 손) named (曰 왈) Mu-il (無逸 무일), [whose] age (年 년) [was] barely (纔 재) five (五 오) or six (六 륙) years (歲 세) [old]. Chae Su (蔡壽 채수) one night (夜 야) was hugging (抱 포) Mu-il (無逸 무일) while (而 이) lying down (臥 와) [in bed when he suggested they] first (先 선), [before going to sleep], make (作 작) a one-phrase (一句 일구) poem (詩 시). [He] said (曰 왈), "[My] grandson (孫子 손자) night after night (夜夜 야야) reads (讀 독) books (書 서)--NOT (不 불)!

[This] caused (使 사) Mu-il (無逸 무일) to reply (對) to it (之) with the response (對曰 대왈), "[My] grandfather (祖父 조부) morning after morning (朝朝 조조) [drinks] alcohol (藥酒 약주)--intensely (猛 맹)."

Chae Su (蔡 채), another time (又 우), [when] out in the snow (於雪中 어설중) [and] carrying Mu-il on his back (負無逸 무일) while (而 이) walking (行 행), made (作 작) a couplet (一句 일구), saying (曰 왈), "[Where] dogs (犬 견) run (走 주), apricot (梅 매) blossoms (花 화) fall (落 락)."

[When his grandfather] finished speaking (語卒 어졸), Mu-il (無逸 무일) replied (對曰 대왈), "[Where] chickens (鷄 계) walk (行 행), bamboo (竹 죽) shoots (葉 엽) grow (成 성)."
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Apparently, where there were dog tracks in the snow, there were also apricot blossoms on the ground, and where there were chicken tracks, there were bamboo shoots sticking up out of the snow, suggesting that chicken poop is good fertilizer for bamboo.

Notice the similarities in the rhyming couplets. This old story suggests to me that Koreans who lived centuries ago were just as clever and playful as Koreans who live today.

손자야야독서불 (孫子夜夜讀書不)
조부조조약주맹 (祖父朝朝藥酒猛)

견주매화락 (犬走梅花落)
계행죽엽성 (鷄行竹葉成)

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary (1998)

From 동아 새 國語辭典 (1992)

Which is correct: A) "동생이 '난 학교에 안 가겠다'라고 말했다" or B) "동생이 '난 학교에 안 가겠다'고 말했다"?

ANSWER: A

In his book "나의 한국어 바로 쓰기 노트" (My Notes for Correct Korean Usage), one of the things that Mr. Nam Yeong-sin (남영신) writes about is the correct way to write direct and indirect speech in Korean, and one of the first things he does is ask which of the two Korean sentences is correct:

A: 동생이 "난 학교에 안 가겠다"라고 말했다.
A: My younger brother/sister said, "I'm not going to school."

B: 동생이 "난 학교에 안 가겠다"고 말했다.
B: My younger brother/sister said, "I'm not going to school."

He writes that if you want to quote someone, which means to use the person's exact words (direct speech), you must include the postpositional particle -라고 or -이라고 after the quote. But if you just want to report what the person said without using the person's exact words (indirect speech), then you would just use the ending -다고, -ㄴ다고, or 는다고. So, that means Sentence A above would be the correct way to write a direct quotation in Korean. 

If you wanted to simply report what the younger brother or sister said, without using his or her exact words, then you would omit the quotation marks ("...") and the 난 (I'm) and just write 동생이 학교에 안 가겠다고 말했다.

I mention this because I seem to remember reading elsewhere that Sentence B would be the correct way to write a direct quotation. In other words, I read that -라 or -이라 was unnecessary. So, there seems to be some confusion among Koreans about the correct way to quote someone.

I think Mr. Nam is correct because if the direct quote were "난 학교에 안 가겠어요," then 동생이 "난 학교에 안 가겠어요"라고 말했다" sounds much better than 동생이 "난 학교에 안 가겠어요"고 말했다.

What does 슈룹 mean?

ANSWER: umbrella (우산)

The Sino-Korean word for "umbrella" is 우산 (雨傘), which literally means "rain (雨) umbrella (傘)," A "rain umbrella" (우산) is usually more waterproof (방수성 防水性) than a "sun (양 陽) umbrella (산 傘)," or parasol (양산). So, the Chinese character 傘 (산), by itself, means "umbrella," and the character even kind of looks like an umbrella. The Chinese phrase for "under an umbrella" is 傘下 (산하), which nowadays usually means "under the influence or protection of." For example, 산하기관 (傘下機關) means "an affiliated organization," but literally translates as "an organization under the umbrella [of]."  And 산하회사 (傘下會社) means "affiliated companies," but literally translates as "companies under the umbrella [of]."

This morning I was reading a short story about an umbrella when I suddenly started wondering if there was a "pure Korean word" (순우리말) for "umbrella." When I checked my pure-Korean-word dictionary, I found the word 슈룹, which was a word I had never heard used before, though it does appear in my Korean-Korean dictionary with a quote from the Hunminjeongeum Haerye (훈민정음해례 訓民正音解例), which was a supplement to the Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음, 1446) that included examples of Korean words written in the new Korean script. The quote from the ancient document is as follows:

슈룹爲雨繖 -- "A 슈룹 is (爲 위) an umbrella (雨繖 우산)."

The character 繖 (산) also means "umbrella," but is now less frequently used than 傘 (산).

Anyway, what follows is the umbrella story I was reading. It is supposedly a fairly well-known story in Korea about a particular 청백리 (淸白吏), which was a title given to "clean-handed government officials" during the Yi Dynasty. The character 淸 (청) means "clear" and 白 (백) means "white" or "clean," so 청백 literally translates as "clear (淸) and clean (白)" but together can translate as "uprightness," "honest," "clean," or "incorruptible." The character 吏 (리) means "officer" or "official." The "clean-handed official" in this story was Yu Gwan (유관 柳寬), who lived from 1346 to 1433. The story comes from a text entitled "靑坡劇談 (청파극담), which was written by Cheong Pa Lee Yuk (청파 이육 靑坡李陸) sometime before 1512, when it was first compiled by the writer's son. Cheong Pa (청파 靑坡) was the penname of Lee Yuk (이육 李陸), who lived from 1438 to 1498. The word 극담 (劇談) can translate as "light-hearted stories," so 청파극담 can translate as "The Lighthearted Stories of Jeongpa."

Prime Minister Yu Gwan (柳政丞寬 유정승관) was pure (淸 청) and poor (貧 빈), yet was self-reliant (自守). Once (嘗 상) a big (大 대) rain (雨 우) continued (經 경) [for] a month (月 월), [and his] house (屋 옥) was leaking (漏 루) like (如 여) hemp (麻 마). 

Yu Gwan (寬 관) [was sitting in his house] holding (手 수) an umbrella (傘 산), sheltering (庇 비) from the rain (雨 우), [when he] looked back (顧 고) and said to (謂 위) [his] wife (夫人 부인), quote (曰 왈), "[In] a house without umbrellas (無傘之家 무산지가), how (何以 하이) can (能 능) [they] endure (堪 감)?"  

His wife (夫人 부인) said (曰 왈), "Those without umbrellas (無傘者 무산자) must (必 필) have (有 유) prevention (備 비).

Yu Gwan (寬 관) smiled (笑 소) at her (之 지). 

I assume the "prevention" the wife was talking about was "a roof that doesn't leak." In other words, the wife seems to be referring to the expression 유비무환 (有備無患), which literally translates as, "[If] there is (有) preparedness (備), there is no (無) anxiety or disaster (患)," an expression that often translates into English as "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

What could a "yangban" (양반) make with a 3D pen?

ANSWER: He could make a yangban hat (갓) and a bow (활), which would be handy if he came across any cucumber (오이) zombies.

I like the guy's commentary in the following video.

"뒤집어주면 놀랍게도 똑같습니다."
"Surprisingly, if you turn it over, it is exactly the same."

Can water break (부서지다)?

ANSWER: Yes

What does 바른말 mean? "Truth" or "appropriate words"? What about the word 산산히?

I find it interesting, for some reason, that English and Korean both use "break" (부서지다) when talking about waves. Why not "crumble" (부스러지다)?

"파도가 바위에 부딪쳐 산산히 부서졌다."
"The wave hit the rock and broke to pieces."

The above sentence came from a book "혼동하기 쉬운 말을 비교하여 풀이한 논리 논술 바른말 사전," which can translate as "Dictionary of Appropriate Words for Reasoning and Discourse: Contrasting and Defining Easily Confused Words."

Two easily confused words that are not in the dictionary are 산산이 and 산산히. The word 산산이, not 산산히, means "to pieces," The word 산산히 means "refreshingly."

From a book entitled "혼동하기 쉬운 말을 비교하여 풀이한 논리 논술 바른말 사전"

What's the difference between 본데 and 본때?

ANSWER: Nothing?

본데 is a noun that means "good manners," "discipline," or "experience," and 본때 is a noun that means "a pattern," "a model," or "an example," but I wonder if they originally meant the same thing.

Anyway, 본데 있다 can translate as either "to have good manners" or "to be experienced," and 본데 없다 can translate as either "to have no manners" or "to be inexperienced." Likewise, 본때 있다 can translate as either "to be a good model" or "to be a good example," which implies being "attractive" or "impressive"; and 본때 없다 can translate as "to be a bad model" or "to be a bad example," which implies being "unattractive" or "unimpressive."

The 본 in 본데 seems to be a form of the verb 보다, which means "to see" or "to experience," so since 데 can mean "a place" or "a situation," 본데 seems to literally mean "a place or situation in which to see and experience." So, if a person has been in a place or situation where he or she could see and experience things, including good manners, he or she is likely to have experience and good manners (본데 있다), but if a person has not been in a place or situation where he or she could see and experience things, including good manners, he or she is likely to be inexperienced and to lack good manners (본데 없다).

The 본 in 본때 also seems to be a form of the verb 보다 (to see or experience), so since 때 means "time" or "opportunity," 본때 seems to literally translate as "a time or opportunity to see and experience." That would mean that the only difference between 본데 and 본때 is that 본데 means "a place to see and experience," and 본때 means "a time to see and experience," which would mean that both of them mean "an opportunity to see and experience."

However, my Korean-Korean dictionary says that the 본 in 본때 is a reference to 본보기 (本보기), which my Korean-English dictionary defines as "an example," "a model," or "a pattern," but which literally means "seeing (보기) the original (本)."

If a person "is experienced and has good manners" (본데 있다), he or she is a "model or good example" (본때 있다) for others, so I suspect that originally the only difference between 본데 있다 and 본때 있다 was how different people pronounced them.

HERE is a link to a Korean article that talks about 본데 and 본때.

Dong-a's Prime Korean-English Dictionary (1998)

What does 낯가림 mean?

ANSWER: to be afraid of or shy of strangers

낯 means "face," and 가림 is the noun form of 가리다, which can mean "to distinguish" or "to discriminate," so 낯가림 literally means "facial (낯) discrimination (가림)." It is usually used to describe infants or young children who are shy of or afraid of strangers, something that is also referred to as "stranger anxiety." I mention the word because I came across an example sentence in my dictionary that seems to mistranslate it. Here is the sentence:

아기들은 낯가림할 수 있는 무렵이 되면 잘 보챈다.

"Babies fret [are fretful] when cutting their teeth." 

"Cutting their teeth" refers to when babies first start getting their teeth. That would translate as 이가 나다, not as 낯가림하다."

Anyway, what I really want to talk about is the verb 보채다, which besides meaning "to fret" or "to make a fuss," can also translate as "to pester," something that children often do. Another word that means "to pester" is 조르다, which, interestingly, can also mean "to tighten." Here is a photo of the definition of 조르다 from my dictionary:

Finally, I would like to mention the word 볶다, which besides meaning "to parch" or "to pan fry," as in the word 볶음밥 (pan-fried rice), can also mean "to pester." So, 나 좀 볶지 마라 can translate as either "Please stop pan-frying me" or "Please stop pestering me." If someone is pestering you a lot, you can use 들볶다 instead of 볶다. The 들 in 들볶다 is a pure Korean prefix that means "a lot" or "excessively" (몹시, 굉장히). But 들볶다 can only mean "to pester," not "to pan fry." Here are a couple of example sentences using 들볶다 from my dictionary:

며느리를 들볶는다  [She] torments her daugter-in-law.

그 여자는 남편을 항상 들볶는다 She henpecks her husband all the time. 

What does 언문(諺文) mean?

ANSWER: hangeul (한글)

My Korean-English dictionary defines 언문 (諺文) as "the Korean script" or "the Korean letters," which is a reference to Hangeul (한글), but my Korean-Korean dictionary says that it was "a vulgar way of referring to 한글 in the past" (지난날, '한글'을 속되게 이르던 말).

According to my Chinese character dictionary, the 언(諺) in 언문(諺文) means "vulgar language (상말)." And since the Chinese character 文(문) means "characters," "letters," or "writing," that means the word 언문(諺文) literally translates as "vulgar letters" or "vulgar writing."

"Vulgar writing"? I find that interesting since the character 諺 (언) is composed of the characters 言(언) and 彦(언), which means "speech (言)" and "scholar (彦)," suggesting that the character 언(諺) might have once meant "scholarly speech."

Actually, the word 언문 (諺文) was originally not a specific reference to Hangeul (한글) but rather a general reference to any writing system in the countries bordering China that was not Chinese writing. For example, I have read the Manchu alphabet was also called 諺文 (언문).

Could the average Chinese read the non-Chinese writings of the countries surrounding China? I certainly doubt it, but probably some of China's "scholars" (彦 언) could, suggesting that 諺文 (언문) might have originally meant "scholarly writing."

Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary (1998)

동아 새국어사전, desk dictionary (1992)

Hyewon Publishing's Chinese Character Dictionary (혜원출판사 활용대옥편), 2007

Hyewon Publishing's Chinese Character Dictionary (혜원출판사 활용대옥편), 2007

What does 복방귀 mean?

ANSWER: a fart of good fortune

In his book "입에 익은 우리 익은말" ("Idioms Familiar to Our Mouths"), Professor Kim Jun-yeong (김준영) writes about the phrase 복방귀, which can translate as "a fart of good fortune."

Professor Kim tells the story of a bride who accidently farts while presenting gifts to her new in-laws after her wedding (폐백). The mother-in-law, fearing that her new daughter-in-law might be embarrassed by the incident, tells her that the fart is a sign of good fortune (복방귀). Happy to hear this, the new daughter-in-law brags that she also farted while getting out of the bridal sedan chair (신부가마).

The above story is also mentioned in THIS 2007 Korean-language newspaper article on Professor Kim, who was about 87 years old at the time.

By the way, I have noticed that farting seems to be a fairly common topic of conversation in Korea. In other words, Koreans do not seem to be as embarrassed by the subject as many Americans seem to be. The fact that 복방귀 was mentioned in the linked newspaper article is evidence of this.

The following Korean video also tells a story about 복방귀.

Does the Korean word 갸우뚱 sound Chinese?

ANSWER: I think so, but I can't prove it.

Today I came across the word 갸우뚱 when I was reading the prologue of a Korean book entitled "매달린 절벽에서 손을 뗄 수 있는가?" which can translate as "Can we remove our hands if we are hanging from a cliff?" My dictionary defines 갸우뚱, which sounds like the name of a Chinese leader, as "moving slantwise," and the phrase 고개를 갸우뚱하다 translates as "to tilt one's head."

The prologue of the book started as follows:

방금 잠옷을 입었다면, 그다음 여러분은 어떻게 행동하시겠습니까? 고개를 갸우뚱거리게 만드는 질문일 겁니다.

After having just put on your pajamas, what would you all do next? It is probably a question that makes you tilt your heads from side to side.

If you speak to dogs in English, or in Korean, they often stare at you while tilting their heads from side to side as if to say, "What are you talking about?" So, some people might find the question "What do you do after putting on your pajamas?" a little strange since putting on pajamas usually means you would then go to bed, but many times we put on our pajamas and then do other things, such as read a book or watch TV.

Anyway, for some reason, the word 갸우뚱 sounds more Chinese to me than Korean. There is the Korean verb 갸울다, which has the same meaning as 기울다 (tilt, slant, incline) but in a smaller sense, which suggests that 갸울다 sounds cuter than 기울다. But what does the -뚱 in 갸우뚱 mean? That 뚱 is what really makes it sound Chinese to me.

So, curious about the origin of 갸우뚱, I googled it and came across the following video, which caused me to lose interest in the origin of 갸우뚱.

Lyrics:

갸우뚱 멀뚱 갸우뚱 멀뚱 갸우뚱 멀뚱 갸우뚱 멀뚱 갸우뚱 갸우뚱 

어쩜그래 아이쿠 답답해 그렇게 내 마음을 몰라 몰라  

더는 기다릴 수 없어 난 오늘은 꼭 너와 girl's day party~  

갸우뚱 알쏭달쏭 하네 멀뚱 나만 바라 보네  

갸우뚱 내가 좋긴 하니미쳐 내가 너땜에  

갸우뚱 흔들리는 내맘 멀뚱 나를 놓칠 거니  

갸우뚱 헷갈리기 전에 지금 말해 나를 정말 갖고 싶다고  

갸우뚱 갸우뚱 멀뚱 멀뚱  

애매모호 하게 때론 티미하게 대체 알 수가 없어  

Let's get this straight  

콩닥콩닥 해 내 가슴이 어떡해야 나를 안아 줄까  

미쳤나봐 나 왜 이러니 어쨌든 난 너와 girls day party  

갸우뚱 알쏭달쏭 하네 멀뚱 나만 바라 보네  

갸우뚱 내가 좋긴 하니미쳐 내가 너 땜에  

갸우뚱 흔들리는 내 맘 멀뚱 나를 놓칠 거니  

갸우뚱 헷갈리기 전에 지금 말해 나를 정말 갖고 싶다고  

너 원하는 내 맘을 정말 모르니 더는 주저 하지 말고 날 가져봐  

갸우뚱 알쏭달쏭 하네 멀뚱 나만 바라보네  

갸우뚱 내가 좋긴 하니 미쳐 내가 너 땜에  

갸우뚱 흔들리는 내 맘 멀뚱 나를 놓칠 거니  

갸우뚱 헷갈리기 전에 지금 말해 나를 정말 갖고 싶다고  

갸우뚱 갸우뚱 

The Korean lyrics were copied from HERE.

Can "smooth" mean "respectable" in Korean?

ANSWER: Yes

My Korean-English dictionary defines 번번하다 and 반반하다 as "smooth" or "even" when talking about things, and as "fair," "comely," "chiseled," or "handsome" when talking about faces, but a couple of days ago I learned that 번번하다 and 반반하다 can also mean "respectable," "decent," "highborn," or "noble." I learned it from the following Korean definition of 번번하다: "지체가 높은 모양 등을 뜻함."

지체 means "lineage," "birth," "family stock," or "pedigree," so the phrases 지체가 높은 and 지체가 낮은 can translate as "of noble birth" and "of humble birth," respectively.

Anyway, after seeing the Korean definition, I became suddenly curious to know what Chinese characters was used for the word 지체, so I looked it up in my dictionary and was surprised to discover that 지체 is a pure Korean word, which means it is not a word made from Chinese characters (Sino-Korean). So, 지체 is one of those pure Korean words that, for some reason, sound like they have a Chinese origin. In fact, I am still not 100 percent convinced that it does NOT have a Chinese origin.

The word 지체 is mentioned in THIS KOREAN ARTICLE, which is entitled 족보를 알고 싶은 말들 ("Words of Which We Want to Know Their Genealogy"). The article also mentions that 생각하다 (to think) is another pure Korean word that many mistakenly think comes from Chinese.

By the way, the difference between 번번하다 and 반반하다 is that 반반하다 has as sense of being smaller than 번번하다. So, I guess that means you would use 번번하다 when talking about the face of an adult and 반반하다 when talking about the face of a child.

When 3 men get together, what do they talk about?

ANSWER:  women and sex

The following is a story from the text “Eo-u Yadam” (어우야담 於于野談), which can translate as “Eo-u’s Unofficial Histories.” Eo-u Dang (어우당 於于堂) was the pen name of Yu Mong-in (유몽인 柳夢寅), who lived from 1559 to 1623 and was a scholar and an official of the Joseon Kingdom.

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A long time ago (古者 고자) there was (有 유) a general (將軍 장군) who commanded (領 령) one hundred thousand (十萬 십만) soldiers (兵 병). [He] divided (分 분) [a field] into east and west (東西 동서) [and] planted (樹 수) big (大 대) flags (旗 기). One (一 일) flag (旗 기) was blue (靑 청) [and] one (一 일) flag (旗 기) was red (紅 홍).

[He] said (曰 왈) [to his soldiers], “Those of you who fear your wives (畏妻者 외처자) stand (立 입) under the red flag (紅旗下 홍기하), [and] those of you who do not fear your wives (不畏妻者 불외처자) stand (立 입) under the blue flag (靑旗下 청기하)."

One hundred thousand of the soldiers (十萬之軍 십만지군) all (皆 개) marched forward (就 취) to stand under the red flag (紅旗下而立 홍기하이립), [but] there was (有 유) one (一 일) manly man (丈夫) who alone (獨 독) stood (立 립) under the blue flag (靑旗下 청기하).

The general (將軍 장군) sent a messenger (傳令 전령) to ask (問 문) him (之 지) [why he stood there]. [The man] replied (答曰 답왈), “My wife (吾妻 오처) has always (常 상) warned (戒 계) me (我 아), quote (曰 왈), ‘[If] three men (男子三人 남자삼인) get together (會 회), [they] inevitably (必 필) discuss (論 론) women (女 여) [and] sex (色 색). [So when] three men (三男 삼남) are gathered (會 회) somewhere (處 처), you (汝 여) then (則 즉) do not ever (一切勿 일절물) enter (立 입) [among them].’ [Then he] added (云 운), isn’t it worse (況 황) at this (今 금) place where one hundred thousand men are gathered (十萬男子所會處乎 십만남자소회처호)? Therefore (是以 시이), [I] do not (不 불) dare (敢 감) disobey (違 위) [her] command (命 명) [and] stand alone (獨立 독립) under the blue flag (靑旗下 청기하).”
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It is nice to know that Koreans 400 years ago also had a good sense of humor.