What does the phrase "우이를 잡다" literally mean?

ANSWER: To grab a cow's ear.

The word 잡다 means "to grab," and the word 우이 (牛耳) is a Sino-Korean word (한자어) that literally means "a cow's (牛) ear (耳)." But besides meaning "cow's ear," 우이 can also mean "the leader" or "the head," which seems a little strange to me. Why would "a cow's ear" mean "a leader" or "the head"?

 
Though the phrase 우이를 잡다 literally means "to grab a cow's ear," it translates as "to take the leadership of," "to lead," or "to head." That suggests that grabbing and pulling on a cow's ear is one way to lead the cow around, and that means that the person who is grabbing and pulling on the cow's ear is "the leader." So, maybe that is how the word "cow's ear" (牛耳 우이) came to mean "the leader." In other words, maybe 우이 (牛耳) is just an abbreviation of 우이 (牛耳)를 잡는 사람, which translates as "a person who grabs a cow's ear."

By the way, is it just a coincidence that another Korean word for "a leader" or "a boss" is 우두머리? The pure-Korean word for "head" is 머리, but what does the 우두 in 우두머리 mean? Could it mean "cow's (牛 우) head (頭 두)," and then 머리 is just added for clarity? I don't know, but cows are led around by their heads, and maybe their ears, so being a leader in Korea may be someone who knows how to lead both cows and people.

Finally, the word 우이 (牛耳) is also used in the Chinese idiom 우이독경 (牛耳讀經), which literally means "[in] a cow's ear (牛耳), read aloud (讀) scripture (經)," which would be a waste of time since the cow would not understand what is being read to it. So, it would be like "talking to a brick wall" or "preaching to the wind."

 

Is this guy a good teacher?

ANSWER: Yes

 

How will the Korean language change in the future?

ANSWER: I'm not exactly sure how the Korean language will change, but I suspect that Koreans will continue to change their language in ways that help them to better imitate English expressions, thinking that it will make them sound more sophisticated.

For example, the verb 갖다, which is an abbreviation of 가지다, means "to have" or "to hold," in the sense of to possess something, but Koreans also use it to mean "개최하다," which means "to hold or to have (a meeting)" or "to open (an exhibition)." That seems kind of suspicious to me and makes me wonder if Koreans started using 갖다 to mean "to have or to hold (a meeting)" only after they started becoming interested in learning the English language. Anyway, these days it seems that 갖다 is quickly replacing 개최하다 when talking about "to have a meeting" or "to open an exhibition, fair, or competition." Will Koreans soon start thinking of 개최하다 as one of those words that only pretentious people use? 

 

Which sentence is more Korean: (A) 비가 오는 날씨가 되겠습니다 or (B) 비가 내리겠습니다?

 ANSWER: (B)

(A) translates as "It will become rainy weather," and (B) translates as "It will rain."

As the Ghostbusters might say, "There is something strange happening in the [Korean weather-forecasting] neighborhood." Instead of using simple, easy-to-understand Korean-style sentences, Korean weather forecasters seem to be directly translating expressions used by English-speaking weather forecasters. They may be doing it in an attempt to sound more professional, but it results in more awkward-sounding Korean sentences, especially when they try to squeeze 날씨 상태 (weather conditions) into every sentence.

In his book 우리가 정말 알아야 할 우리말 바로 쓰기, former high school Korean-language teacher 이수열 lists awkward-sounding sentences that Korean weather forecasters are using these days. Many of the Korean sentences seem to be direct translations of sentences used by English-speaking forecasters. The result is that the sentences may translate well into English but sound awkward in Korean.

The (A) sentences below seem to be direct translations of English sentences, which makes them sound more awkward and less Korean-like than the (B) sentences. The English translations are mine.

(A) 오늘은 구름이 많이 낀 상태를 보이고 있습니다.
Today is showing very cloudy conditions.
(B) 오늘은 그름이 많이 끼었습니다.
Today is very cloudy.

(A) 오늘도 맑은 날씨가 이어지고 있는 상태입니다.
Again today, clear-weather conditions are continuing.
(B) 오늘도 날씨가 맑습니다.
Again today, the weather is clear.

(A) 중부지방은 비가 내리고 있는 상태입니다.
The central region is rainy conditions.
(B) 중부지방에(는) 비가 내립니다.
In the central region, it is raining.

(A) 남쪽 바다에서 태풍이 비바람을 몰고 오고 있는 상태입니다.
In the southern sea, the condition is that a typhoon is bringing wind and rain.
(B) 남쪽 바다에서 태풍이 비바람을 몰아옵니다.
In the southern sea, a typhon is bringing wind and rain.

(A) 오늘 아침도 쌀쌀한 기온의 날씨를 보이고 있습니다.
This morning, again, is showing weather with chilly temperatures. 
(B) 오늘 아침도 쌀쌀합니다.
This morning, again, is chilly.

(A) 비구름이 아직도 머물러 있는 모습이 보이고 있습니다.
It is showing an image of rain clouds still remaining.
(B) 비구름이 아직도 머물러 있습니다.
Rain clouds still remain.

(A) 남부지방은 흐린 날씨를 보인 가운데 20mm 안팍의 비가 내리겠습니다.
The southern region shows cloudy weather while about 20mm of rain will fall.
(B) 남부지방에는 20mm 안팍의 비가 내리겠습니다.
In the southern region, about 20mm of rain will fall.

(The problem with sentence (A) just above is that there is no rain without clouds, so it was unnecessary to mention "cloudy weather." It would have been all right to mention the clouds if they had said "cloudy with a possibility of" about 20mm of rain.)

PLEASE DON'T TURN KOREAN INTO TRANSLATED ENGLISH.

Is the Korean word for "a part in one's hair" 가리마 or 가르마?

ANSWER: 가르마 is currently considered the correct word, even though my vintage 1996 Dong-A Korean-English dictionary lists 가리마 instead. 

In my newer 2014 Essense dictionary, however, 가르마 is listed instead of 가리마.

So, sometime between 1996 and 2014, the Korean word for "a part in one's hair" seems to have changed from being 가리마 to being 가르마. And maybe in a few more years, the word will change from 가르마 to 파트 (part), as English becomes more and more a part of the Korean language.

Maybe, they changed the word from 가리마 to 가르마 after they realized that the word 기리마 was already being used to refer to a formal headdress worn by women in old Korea.

What does 나는 좆됐다 mean?

 ANSWER: Well, it is translated below as "I'm screwed," which is said when one realizes that one in a very bad or hopeless situation.

The Korean below is a translation of the first page of the English novel The Martian, which is about an astronaut who is left for dead on Mars. After realizing his situation, the astronaut describes it in a log entry by saying, "I'm screwed," except that in the English novel, he used the "F" word instead. 

The Korean phrase 나는 좆됐다 literally means "I've become a penis," which is the same as saying, "I've become a dick," and in America that means, "I've become an obnoxious jerk," not "I'm screwed."

The Korean slang 좆 됐다 can mean either "to be embarrassed" (망신을 당했다) or "the result is messed up" (결과가 엉망이 되었다), so I think 나는 좆됐다 is supposed to mean, "I screwed up," which means, "I messed up." That meaning is different from "I'm screwed," so I think the Korean translator may have "screwed up" that translation.

UPDATE: On second thought, maybe the translator got the translation right. Afterall, the Korean is 나는 좆됐다, not 내가 좆됐다, so 나는 could possibly mean 내가 있는 상황은, which can translate as "the situation I am in." That means that 나는 좆됐다 could translate as "My situation is screwed up," or more simply, "I'm screwed."

By the way, in the second sentence, shouldn't it be 그것은 instead of 그것이 since the 그것 is referring to the first sentence, which means the first sentence is the topic of the second sentence, and 은/는, not 이/가, are topic markers.

Here is the original English from the book, except that I am using the word "screwed" instead of the "F" word:

I'm pretty much screwed. (아무래도 좆됐다.)
   That's my considered opinion. (그 것이 내가 심사숙고 끝에 내린 결론이다.)
   Screwed. (나는 좆됐다.)

So, that is the beginning of the novel The Martian.