Friday, June 26, 2020

What is a 길앞잡이?

ANSWER: a tiger beetle

Koreans have some interesting names for bugs, The Korean name for a "tiger beetle," for example, is 길앞잡이, which literally means "path (길) guide (앞잡이)." The name supposedly comes from the way it acts when approached. If you get close to it, it will either fly or run away a short distance and stop, and if you continue to follow it, it will do the same thing again and again, as if it is guiding you along your way.
So, 길 means "path" or "road," and 앞 means "forward," but what does 잡이 mean?
I think 잡이 can be translated as "expert."
If you are a "path guide," but not a bug, you are a 길잡이, without the 앞, and 길잡이 can translate as "path (길) expert (잡이)," which literally translates as "a person (이) who grabs (잡다) the path (길)."
Koreans call right-handed people 오른손잡이, which literally translates as "people (이) who grab (잡다) with their right hands (오른손)," and they call left-handed people 왼손잡이, which literally translates as "people (이) who grab (잡다) with their left hands (왼손), And Koreans call people who are ambidextrous and can grab with both hands 양수(兩手)잡이 or 양손잡이, which literally translates as "people (이) who grab (잡다) with 'both hands (양수)."
So, a right-handed person is a right-hand expert, a left-handed person a left-hand expert, and an ambidextrous person a two-handed expert. In English, "dexterous" means "showing or having skill."
By the way, 칼잡이 (a knife expert) is an unflattering name for "a butcher."

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