What does 무당 같다 mean?

 ANSWER: be like a fortuneteller

무당 is the Korean word for "a female shaman" or "spirit medium," but it can also be translated as "a fortuneteller." And since 같다 means "to be like," 무당 같다 can translate as "be like a fortuneteller."

꼴꼴 and 콸콸 are both used to refer to the sound of flowing water or liquid, but 꼴꼴 is used to refer to a "trickling" flow while 콸콸 is used to refer to a "gushing" flow.

The following is based on an old Korean story:

One day a mother overheard her teenage daughter peeing in the restroom, and it sounded as if the pee was gushing out of her. The mother was surprised because when she had overheard her daughter peeing before, it had always sounded like a trickle. When the daughter came out of the restroom, the mother confronted her.

Mother: "너 어떤 놈과 상관했지?" ("You've been with a guy, haven't you?")
Daughter: "어머니는 꼭 무당 같네." (Wow! Mom, you are just like a fortuneteller.")

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary

What does 행림 (杏林) literally mean?

 ANSWER: apricot (杏) grove (林)

The Sino-Korean word 행림 (杏林) is a poetic and interesting way to refer to "physicians," but it literally means "apricot (杏) grove or forest (林)." It comes from a story of a famous Chinese doctor who only asked that his patients pay him for his services by planting apricot trees. Patients treated for serious illnesses would plant five trees while those treated for minor illnesses would plant only one. You can read more about the doctor HERE.

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictonary

What does the 대 in 대머리 mean?

 ANSWER: Big?

The Korean word for "head" is 머리, and the Korean word for "bald head" is 대머리, so does the 대 is 대머리 mean "bald"?

I have read HERE that 대 might be a dialectical word for 민둥, which means "bare" or "bald," but I wonder if it might instead have come from the Chinese character for "big," which is 大 (대).

As men get older, many gradually go bald to some extent. That might have looked to some Koreans as if the men's heads (머리) were growing bigger (대 大) while their hair stayed the same size. And that might have led some Koreans to jokingly refer to such men as "big heads" (대머리).

So could it be that the word 대머리 started out as a joke?

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary

Do Koreans enjoy line dancing? And where is Amarillo?

ANSWER: Yes, apparently some Koreans do enjoy line dancing. And Amarillo is in the Texas panhandle.

 

Can 何 (하) mean "how"?

 ANSWER: Yes, the Chinese character 何 (하) can mean "how," but it can also mean "who," what," "where," "when," and "why," which is why Koreans refer to journalism's "6 Ws' rule," or "5 Ws and 1 H rule," as 육하원칙 (六何原則), which literally translates as "the six (六) 'Ha's' (何) principle or rule (原則)".

What can 달 mean besides "moon" and "month"?

 ANSWER: the month a woman is expected to give birth (해산할 달)

"Expecting Mother," by Gerry Bevers

When the moon is full at night,

It is big, round, and quite bright.

When a belly's full and tight,

A child's ready for the light.

달 can mean either "moon" or "month," and 차다 means "to be full," so 달이 찼다 can translate as "The moon is full." But when a woman is ready to give birth, her belly looks almost as big and round as a full moon, so when one is referring to a pregnant woman, 달이 찼다 would translate as "It's time [for the woman] to give birth."

By the way, 미국에서는 달빛이 (moonshine) 불법이다.

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary