Who is the William Burns mentioned in Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary?

 ANSWER: I don't know much about him, but he was someone who helped compile and edit the dictionary.

I love my Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary and am impressed with how much effort was put into it by a Sogang University English Language & Literature professor named Kim Yong-gwon (김용권) and a William Burns, who apparently was also an English professor at Sogang University.

UPDATE: According to information HERE, a William T. Burns "arrived [at Sogang University?] on September 8th, 1965 and said that he would 'teach English as a volunteer for one or two years.' He left Sogang in late May 1999 to enter a Trappist monastery in the United States," which means that he stayed for more than just one or two years.

So, according to the above source, William T. Burns arrived in Korea in 1965, but the caption under the following photo of William T. Burns, from the source HERE, suggests that he taught at Sogang University from 1978 to 2002. The haircut, glasses, and suit, however, look 1960s to me. It might be that Mr. Burns arrived in Korea in 1965 but did not start working at Sogang University until 1978.



Anyway, the following is a Korean-language video, with English subtitles, commemorating the 60th Anniversary of Sogang University. In the video, there is an interview with Professor Emeritus Kim Yong-gwon and other Sogang University professors who remember the early days at the university. The interviews are somewhat interesting.

 

What does 讀書三餘 (독서삼여) mean?

ANSWER: reading's (讀書) three (三) leisure times (餘)

According to the ancient Chinese, the three best times to read were during the winter, at night, and during a rain. Why? Because the ancient Chinese were mostly farmers who had little leisure time, except during the winter, at night, and during a rain. The following Chinese idiom refers to these three leisure times:

讀書三餘 (독서삼여)

Reading's (讀書) three (三) leisure times (餘)

The ancient Chinese also believed that to truly understand a book or writing it should reach one's "mouth," "eyes," and "mind," and that means that one should read it aloud while focusing one's eyes and mind only on the reading. I assume that is why teachers in Joseon Korea's village schools (서당 書堂) would have their students read aloud the "Thousand Character Poem" (천자문 千字文) while focusing their eyes and minds only on the poem. If they failed to focus on the poem, the teacher would remind them to do so with his "teaching switch" (교편 敎鞭). The purpose was to have them become "absorbed in their reading" (독서삼매 讀書三昧). Anyway, the following Chinese idiom refers to the concept of "reading's three reaches":

讀書三到 (독서삼도)

Reading's (讀書) three (三) reaches (到)

Finally, the ancient Chinese believed that if you read or did something enough times, you will naturally come to understand it. That is why I like to read Korean books more than once, thinking that doing so will help me to better understand them.

讀書百遍義自見 (독서백편의자현)

[If you] read (讀) a book or writing (書) a hundred (百) times (遍), [its] meaning (義) will naturally (自) appear (見).

 

What does 산전수전 (山戰水戰) literally mean?

ANSWER: mountain (山) battles (戰) sea (水) battles (戰)

The Sino-Korean phrase 산전수전 (山戰水戰) can translate as "fighting all sorts of hardships," but it literally means "mountain (山) battles (戰) [and] sea (水) battles (戰)," which suggests that someone who has fought such battles has experienced great hardship.

Here is a sentence from a Korean book I am reading that uses the expression. The English translation is mine.

어머니께서는 산전수전을 겪으시며 우리를 훌륭히 키우셨다.

Though she was experiencing all sorts of hardships, our mother raised us remarkedly well. 

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary

Is a drama about a man learning Korean so that he can find his lost love corny?

 ANSWER: Yes, super corny, but the language lessons are pretty good.

What are silkworm cats (蠶猫 잠묘)?

 ANSWER: They are the cats that eat the rats that eat the silkworms.

Rats apparently like to eat silkworms (누에), so in China and other countries that raised silkworms, cats were used to protect the silkworms from the rats. These cats were called "silkworm (蠶 잠) cats (猫 묘)." And apparently the Chinese believed that even pictures of cats stuck to the walls of the silkworm rooms would help scare away the rats.

Which animal guards a palace?

 ANSWER: the gecko

The Sino-Korean word for "gecko" is 수궁 (守宮), which literally means " keep or guard (守) a palace (宮)." But besides meaning "palace," my Chinese character dictionary says that  궁 (宮) can also mean "house" (집), so 수궁 (守宮) could also literally translate as "protect (守) a house (宮)."

But how could a gecko protect a house? Maybe by eating any bugs that invade it.

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary

What does 경지 (境地) literally mean?

 ANSWER: bordered (境) land (地) or land with borders

The first definition for 경지 (境地) in my Korea-English dictionary is "a state," "a condition," "a stage," or "circumstances," but the word literally means "bordered (境) land (地)" since 경 (境) can mean either "border" or "boundary" and 지 (地) can mean "place" or "land."

So, how did a word that literally means "bordered land" (지경) come to mean "a state" or "a condition"?

In English, the word "state" can mean either "a country (with borders)" or "a condition," so when the Chinese first saw the English word "state" with the meaning of "condition," I wonder if they misinterpreted it to mean the "state" meaning "country" and then later just continued to use the word 경지 (境地) to mean both the "country" state and the "condition" state?

It just seems strange to me that the Korean word 경지 (境地) has a double meaning similar to that of the English word "state." Can it just be a coincidence?

By the way, if you switch the order of the Chinese characters in 경지 (境地), you get the word 지경 (地境), which my Korean-English dictionary translates both as "a border" and as "a condition." That means 경지 and 지경 have similar meanings, except that the first definition of 경지 is "a condition" while the first definition of of 지경 is "a border."

From Dong-A's Korean-English Dictionary

From Dong-A's English-Korean Dictionary

What does 소읍 (小邑) literally mean?

 ANSWER: small (小) town (邑)

Today I came across the following Korean sentence:

저희 아버지는 작은 소읍에서 교편을 잡고 계십니다.

My father teaches (교편을 잡다) in a small town.

Note: The phrase 교편을 잡다 translates as "to teach," but it literally means "to hold (잡다) a teacher's pointer or ruler (교편)."

The Sino-Korean word 읍 (邑) translates as "town," so since 소 (小) means "small," 소읍 (小邑) literally means "small (小) town (邑)," which could be written in pure Korean as 작은 고을 or 작은 마을 since 작은 means "small" and since 고을 can translate as "town." That means the phrase 작은 소읍 in the above Korean sentence literally means "small (작은) small town (소읍)," which is redundant. This kind of redundancy seems to happen a lot in Korean, usually when Koreans are mixing pure Korean words with Sino-Korean words. 

Therefore, instead of 작은 소읍, it would be better to write either just 소읍, 작은 읍, or 작은 고을.

By the way, the Sino-Korean word for "big town" is 대읍 (大邑), which literally means "big (大) town (邑)." It could also be written as 큰 읍 or 큰 고을.

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary

What does 망양보뢰 (亡羊補牢) literally mean?

 ANSWER: Fix the [sheep] pen after losing the sheep.

The Korean expression 망양보뢰 (亡羊補牢) literally means "lose (亡) the sheep (羊) [and then] fix (補) [the sheep] pen (牢)." It is similar to the English expression "close the barn door after the cow has gotten out," but while the English expression suggests that it is too late to fix the problem, the Korean expression seems to suggest that fixing the problem after the damage is done will at least stop it from happening again. In other words, the Korean expression seems to suggest that it is never too late to fix a problem, at least according to the Korean video below.

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary

In Korea, can a little daughter be bigger than a big daughter?

 ANSWER: Yes.

In Korean, 큰딸 means "eldest or elder daughter" but literally translates as "big (큰) daughter (딸)," and 작은딸 means "youngest or younger daughter" but literally translates as "small daughter," so the "big" (큰) and "small" (작은) in these words refer to "age," not "size." Therefore, it is possible for the younger of two daughters to be bigger in size than the elder.

Who was Lee Jung-seob (이중섭 李仲燮)?

 ANSWER: Lee Jung-seob (이중섭) was a Korean artist who was born and raised (1916 - 1956) in Korea while Korea was still under Japanese rule. He married a woman named Yamamoto Masako and had three children of whom one died in 1946. Out of financial hardship and fear for his family's safety, he sent his wife and two remaining children to Japan to live during the Korean war. Though their separation was meant to be only temporary, Mr. Lee was never able to be with his family again, except during a 5-day visit to Tokyo in 1953. He is probably most well known for an oil painting called "The White Ox" (흰소), but he is also known for the letters and postcards he sent to his wife and children in Japan. Mr. Lee died of hepatitis in 1956 when he was only 40 years old. 

The photos below are of a book I have on Mr. Lee. The first photo is of the cover of the book, the second is of his painting "The White Ox," and the third is of one Mr. Lee's letters to his wife. Notice that the letter was written in Japanese and decorated with pictures. I have also added a link to a YouTube video about Mr. Lee, and you can read more about Lee Jung-seob HERE.

What does 영어 (英語) literally mean?

 ANSWER: The Language of Heroes

The Korean word for "English" is 영어 (英語), which can literally translate as "heroes' (英) words or language (語)." That means 영국 (英國), the Korean word for "England," can literally translate as "Heroes (英) Country (國)" or "The Land of Heroes." The 영 (英) in 영어 (英語) and 영국 (英國) is the same 영 used in 영웅 (英雄), the Korean word for "hero."

Actually, the Chinese character 英 (영) can mean either "corolla (flower petals)" or "hero," so that means 영어 (英語) could also literally translate as "The Language of Flower Petals," and 영국, "The Land of Flower Petals."

What does 침소봉대 (針小棒大) literally mean?

 ANSWER: Needles (針) are small (小), clubs (棒) are big (大).

My Korean-English dictionary defines 침소봉대 (針小棒大) as "exaggeration" or "overstatement," but the expression literally means "needles (針) are small (小), clubs (棒) are big (大)."

If someone tells you that "needles are small, clubs are big," the person is suggesting that you are exaggerating a problem or situation. In other words, the person is suggesting that you are trying "to make a big club out of a small needle," which is equivalent to the English expression "making a mountain out of a molehill."

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary

How do you turn a ㄹ into a ￦?

 ANSWER: If you can type Korean letters on your computer, first type ㄹ and then hit the "Ctrl" key on the righthand side of your keyboard, not the "Ctrl" key on the left-hand side. This causes a menu to pop up. From the menu, select ￦ with your mouse or type 3.

You can get other symbol menus by typing other Korean letters and hitting the same "Ctrl" key. This trick does not work with the letters of the English alphabet.

Can trees make paths?

 ANSWER: Yes, according to the Chinese.

The Chinese saying 桃李不言, 下自成蹊 (도리불언, 하자성혜) literally translates as follows:

Peach (桃) [and] plum trees (李) do not (不) speak (言), [yet] beneath [themselves] (下自) [they] make (成) paths (蹊).

But how do they make paths? With their beautiful blossoms and tasty fruit, the trees attract people who make the paths.

The expression can also be used to refer to people who are so virtuous that they can attract followers and admirers without saying a word, but rather by simply being virtuous and doing good deeds.

What does 대우탄금 (對牛彈琴) literally mean?

 ANSWER: facing a cow and plucking an oriental harp

대우탄금 (對牛彈琴) can literally translate as "facing (對) a cow (牛) [and] plucking (彈) an oriental harp (琴)." The expression is used to refer to something done for someone who does not have the intellectual ability or desire to understand or appreciate what is being done, so the effort is a waste of time. Here is an example sentence from a Korean book entitled "고사성어 대백과," which can translate as "Encyclopedia of Old Chinese Character Idioms."

아무리 좋은 강의도 그것을 이해할 수 없는 학생들에게는 대우탄금이랄 수 밖에 없다.

No matter how good the lecture, it is a waste of time if the students cannot understand it, like plucking a harp in front of cows.

The expression 대우탄금 is not in my Korean-English dictionary, which suggests that it is not a commonly used expression, but most Koreans have still probably heard of it. It is a 4-character Chinese idiom based on an old story. Koreans refer to such idioms as 고사성어 (故事成語), which literally means "ancient (故) incident (事) created (成) phrases (語)." If a 4-character Chinese idiom is not based on an old story, then Koreans simply refer to them as 사자성어 (四字成語), which literally means "four (四) character (字) created (成) phrases (語). The story behind the 대우탄금 idiom is as follows:

A man in the ancient Chinese state of Lu (노국 魯國) wanted to do something nice for his hard-working cow, so he started playing his harp in front of the cow, but the cow showed no sign of interest and just continued to eat the nearby grass. The man then made the sound of a mosquito (모기의 울음소리), which caused the cow to swish its tail. After that, the man made the sound of a crying calf (송아지의 울음소리), which caused the cow to raise its ears. This showed the man that the cow was smart enough to understand and appreciate the sounds of a mosquito and a crying calf but not the sounds of a harp. 

Here is a very good Korean-language video explaining the Chinese idiom 대우탄금 and the story behind it.