What does 계란지단 literally mean?

ANSWER: chicken egg (계란), chicken egg (지단)

계란지단 is a garnish (고명) made from chicken eggs that is used on a lot of Korean dishes, especially on Korean noodle and soup dishes. There is a white garnish made from the white of the egg and a yellow garnish made from the yolk.

To make the garnish, one must first separate the white and yoke of the egg and then fry them separately into paper-thin patties which are then peeled from the frying pan and cut into spaghetti-thin strips. The video below shows how it is done.

As for the name 계란지단, the Sino-Korean word 계란 (鷄卵) literally means "chicken (鷄) egg (卵)," and so does 지단 (鷄蛋), but "지단" is the Chinese pronunciation of "chicken (鷄) egg (蛋)"; the Korean pronunciation would be 계단 (鷄蛋). The Chinese character 鷄 (계) means "chicken," and both 卵 (란) and 蛋 (단) mean "egg."

So, the Korean word for "egg garnish" literally means "chicken egg, chicken egg."

 

What does 계간 (鷄姦) literally mean?

 ANSWER: chicken rape

The Sino-Korean word 계간 (鷄姦) translates a "sodomy," but it literally means "chicken (鷄) adultery (姦)" or "chicken rape." 

So, why does "chicken rape" mean "sodomy"? Because a female chicken has only an anus and no separate sexual orifice.

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary

What does 뇌하수체 literally mean?

 ANSWER: a body that hangs below the brain

The Korean word for "pituitary gland" is 뇌하수체 (腦下垂體), which literally means "brain (腦) below (下) hanging (垂) body (體)." The name refers to the location of the pituitary gland in the skull.

Personally, I think a better name for the pituitary gland would be 뇌하수고 (腦下垂睾), which would translate as "testicles that hang below the brain."

From Hook AP Psychology 4B

What is a 짚신벌레?

 ANSWER: a paramecium

In Korean, a paramecium is called 짚신벌레, which literally means "straw (짚) shoe (신) bug (벌레)" or "straw sandal bug," because it is shaped like a traditional Korean sandal made from rice or barley straw, with one rounded end for the heel of the sandal and a more slightly pointed end for the toe.

Photo from Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture

What should you say if a stranger offers you cookies?

ANSWER: 안돼요!

   

Why does 각색 (脚色) mean "dramatization"?

 ANSWER: I'm not sure.

Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary defines 각색  as "dramatization," "stage version," and "cinematization," but 각색 (脚色) literally means "leg (脚) color (色)," so how did "leg color" come to mean "dramatization"? I can only guess.

각광 (脚光) literally means "leg (脚) lights (光)" but is defined as "footlights," which are lights placed at the front of a stage to illuminate actors from foot level. Footlights allow the audience to see the actors without any obstruction, and the "color" of the lights can also effect the mood of a scene.

So my guess is that 각색 (leg color) is related to 각광 (leg lights), which implies a stage performance. In other words, if you are going to make a novel into a play (dramatize a novel), you will need a stage and footlights to highlight the actors, so maybe that is how "lighting" or "coloring" legs came to mean "dramatization"?

I have read that the modern meaning of 각색 has something to do with corrupt officials in ancient China, but I don't buy that explanation.

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary

What does 다반사 mean?

 ANSWER: a tea and rice matter

Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary defines 다반사 (茶飯事) as "a matter of no importance," but it literally means "a tea (茶) [and] rice (飯) matter (事)," and tea and rice are things Asians drink or eat everyday. In other words, seeing people in Asia drinking tea and eating rice is a common sight and nothing to get excited about.

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary

What does 호떡 mean?

 ANSWER: barbarian rice cake

Dong-A's Korean-English Dictionary defines 호떡 as "a Chinese stuffed pancake," which may sound somewhat gruesome, but what it means is "a Chinese-style stuffed pancake." The reason they define it as a "Chinese" pancake is because it originally came from China.

The 떡 in 호떡 means "rice cake," and the 호 (胡) means "barbarian," "savage," or "foreigner." Koreans used to consider anyone who was not Korean to be a "barbarian," including the Chinese, it appears.

So, 호떡 literally means "barbarian (호) rice cake (떡)."

Some Koreans, however, mistakenly think the 호 is 호떡 comes from 호하다, which means "to blow." Why? Because you often have to blow on a hot Chinese pancake to cool it off enough to eat it.

What does 모모 mean?

 ANSWER: Some people?

In 1977, I first arrived in Korea in the U.S.navy and stayed there until the fall of 1979. In 1978, a song sung by Korean singer Kim Man-jun (김만준) became a hit. The song's name was 모모.

At the time, I understood 모모 to be the name of a young girl from a novel entitled "Momo," written by Michael Ende, but now I wonder if the 모모 in the Kim Man-jun song was also meant to mean "some people," which in Korean can also translate as 모모 (某某).

Using 모모 to mean "some people," here is my translation of the lyrics of the Kim Man-jun song 모모.

모모는 철부지, 모모는 무지개
Some people are childlike, some people are rainbows.

모모는 생을 쫓아가는 시계바늘이다.
Some people are the hands of a clock pursuing life.

모모는 방랑자, 모모는 외로운 그림자
Some people are wanderers, some people are lonely shadows,

너무 기뻐서 박수를 치듯이 날개짓하며
Flapping their wings as if they are clapping for being so happy.

날아가는 니스의 새들을 꿈꾸는 모모는 환상가
Some people are dreamers, dreaming of the flying birds of Nice (French city?)

그런데 왜 모모 앞에 있는 생은 행복한가?
But why are the future lives of some people happy?

인간은 사랑 없이 살 수 없다는 것을 
Human beings cannot live without love, it is said,

모모는 잘 알 고 있기 때문이다.
So it is because some people know this.

What is Parler?

 ANSWER: It is a social media Web site where I am also posting about the Korean language. You can click HERE if you would like to check out my posts there.

What does the 십 in 십상 mean?

 ANSWER: ten

The Korean word 십상 means "just right" or "perfect," according to Dong-A's Prime Korean-English dictionary. But 십상 comes from 십성 (十成), which literally means "a ten (十) achievement (成)." On a scale of one-to-ten, a "ten achievement" would be "a perfect score" or "the highest ranking."

Over time 십성 came to be pronounced 십상.

So, the Korean sentence 하이킹 날씨로는 십상이다 can be translated as "This is the perfect (십상이다) weather for hiking (하이킹 날씨로는)."

십성 (十成) was used to refer to the purity of such metals as "gold" (금 金) and "silver" (은 銀), so 십성금 (十成金) could be translated as "pure gold" and 십성은 (十成銀) as "pure silver."

Since ten-out-of-ten was the highest ranking, one-out-of-ten would be the lowest ranking, so since 일 (一) is the Sino-Korean word for "one," the lowest quality of gold and silver would be 일성금 (一成金) and 일성은 (一成銀), respectively.

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