ANSWER: grass [and] rice straw
My Dong-A Prime Korean-English dictionary defines 초고 (草稿) as "a rough copy," "a draft," "notes," or "a manuscript," but the word literally means "grass (草) [and] rice straw (稿)." Moreover, when I look up 초 (草) by itself, instead of defining it as "grass," my dictionary defines it as "a draft" or "drafting," as in 초안 (草案), which literally means "grass (草) desk (案)." Likewise, when I look up 고 (稿) by itself, instead of defining it as "rice straw," my dictionary defines it as "a manuscript," as in 원고 (原稿), which literally means "originally (原) rice straw (稿)." So, according to my Korean-English dictionary 초고 (草稿) literally means "a draft (草) [or] manuscript (稿)" instead of "grass (草) [and] rice straw (稿)" What the heck?
Moreover, instead of defining 초(草)잡다 as "grabbing grass," my dictionary defines it as "make a draft (of)" or "to draft." And, instead of defining 초서 (草書) as "grass (草) writing (書), my dictionary defines it as "a cursive style of penmanship." What the heck?
Also, instead of defining 기고 (寄稿) and 투고 (投稿) as "sending (寄) rice straw (稿)" and "throwing (投) rice straw (稿)," respectively, my dictionary defines them as "contributing (to a magazine or newspaper)." And it defines 탈고 (脫稿) as "completion of a manuscript" instead of as "taking off (脫) rice straw (稿)." What the heck?
So, why are drafts, handwritten notes, and manuscripts described as "grass and rice straw" (草稿 초고) in Korea and China?
I suspect it is because the quick, cursive-style writing of Chinese characters in Korea and China really does look similar to drawings of grass and rice straw to many who cannot read them, similar to how illegible handwriting in the United States is often referred to as "chicken scratch."
Of course, there are definitions in my dictionary using the Chinese character for "grass" (草 초) that do make sense. Here are a few of them:
- 초가 (草家) - a straw- or grass-roofed house
- 초로 (草路) - a path across a meadow or grass field
- 초록 (草綠) - grass-green
- 초립 (草笠) - a straw hat (worn by a young married man of below twenty)
- 초막 (草幕) - a straw-thatched hut
- 초목 (草木) - grass and trees, plants
- 초색 (草色) - grass color or green
- 초석 (草席) - a straw mat
- 초식 (草食) - grass-eating: 초식동물 (grass-eating animals)
- 초원 (草原) - a grassland, plain, or prairie
- 초재 (草材) - native medicinal herbs
- 초적 (草笛) - a grass harp (a grass blade vibrated between the lips)
- 초지 (草地) - grassland, a grassy plain, a green field
- 초화 (草花) - a flowering plant (literally "a grass' flower")
 |
| From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary |
 |
| From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary |
 |
| From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary |
