Monday, February 10, 2025

What happens to "winter bugs" (冬蟲 동충)?

 ANSWER: They turn into "summer grass" (夏草 하초), which essentially means they turn into mushrooms.

In Korea, if a dead bee turns into a mushroom, it is called a 벌동충하초. If the larva of a silkworm turns into a mushroom, it is called a 번데기동충하초.

Cordyceps militaris in Arkansas | Mushroaming - Daniel Winkler's Webpages Dedicated to Mushrooms and Nature Tours

Thursday, January 16, 2025

What's the difference between 오호 and 오호호?

ANSWER: One means "Alas!" and the other means "Ha ha!"

오호 (嗚呼) means "Alas!" and is said when something sad happens. 오호호 means "Ha ha!" and is said when something funny happens. Don't get the two confused.


By the way, in China, the idiom 一命嗚呼 (일명오호) means "to die," though it literally translates as "A life (一命), alas (嗚呼)!"


Friday, January 03, 2025

What is the Korean name of the bowl in the photo below?

 ANSWER:

청자양각연화당초상감모란문은구발
靑磁陽刻蓮花唐草象嵌牡丹文銀釦鉢

LINK





What's the difference between 입을 축이다 and 목을 축이다?

ANSWER: One means to drink one's fill of something while the other means to drink less than one would like.

입 can mean either "mouth" or "lips," and 목 can mean either "throat" or "gullet," so since 축이다 means "to wet" or "to moisten," 입을 축이다 literally means "to wet one's lips or mouth" while 목을 축이다 literally means "to wet one's throat or gullet." That means that one needs to drink more to wet one's throat than to just wet one's lips and mouth. Therefore, 목을 축이다 implies that one drinks one's fill of something while 입을 축이다 implies that one does not drink as much as one would like.