By James | September 4, 2009
첫술에 배부르랴
cheot sul e bae bu-reu-rya
첫 (Cheot): first
술 (sul): spoonful; alcohol
배(bae): stomach
부르다 (bu-reu-da): to be full; to be pregnant; to be swollen
So you get: Will the first spoonful fill the stomach? The ~(으)랴 ending means will it do/ will it be, in a rhetorical sense. So the gist of the proverb is that you can’t [...]
Posted in Proverbs, korean | Also tagged Proverbs |
By James | September 3, 2009
도토리 키 재기
Do-to-ri ki jae-gi
도토리: Acorn
키: Height
재다: To measure/gauge/survey/weigh, and many others
Adding it all up: ‘Like measuring the height of acorns.”
This is used either when you’re trying to compare ‘apples to oranges,’ or when you are trying to compare two things that are so similar that the differences aren’t even really worth mentioning- like [...]
Posted in Proverbs, food, korean | Also tagged beer, food, Proverbs |
By James | September 2, 2009
급히 먹는 밥이 목에 멘다.
or
빨리 먹으면 체한다.
geup-hi meog-neun bap i mok-e men-da.
급히: hastily
먹는: eaten (as adjective)
밥: rice
목: throat
메다: to choked; stopped up.
In other words, the hastily eaten rice chokes the throat. Or the English proverb that’s usually chosen as an equivalent is: ‘Haste makes waste.’
By James | August 29, 2009
거지도 부지런하면 더운 밥을 얻어 먹는다.
geojido bujireon hamyeon deoun babeul eodeo meogneunda
거지 = beggar
부지런하다 = to be diligent or hard-working
덥다 / 더운 = to be hot (descriptive verb) / hot (adj. form)
밥 = rice (but also is used as meal)
얻다 = to get; to obtain; to win; to receive
먹다 = to eat
But apparently the combination [...]
By James | August 28, 2009
We found out that there are a few movie theatres in Seoul which show certain Korean movies with English subtitles. The choices are extremely limited, in fact, often there is only one choice.
So we went to see 국가대표 (gukgadaepyo) at CGV Yongsan in Seoul. The English title is Take off I think, but the Korean [...]
Posted in Uncategorized, korean | Also tagged Movies |
By James | August 28, 2009
개밥에도토리
kaebap e dotori.
The truth is that I don’t really understand this expression. I’m going to try and get an explanation for it when we start Korean class again on Monday. According to the Naver dictionary, and a few other online sources, it means, ‘an outcast,’ or ‘an ostracized person.’ The literal translation is what I’m [...]
By James | August 18, 2009
개구리 올챙이 적 생각을 못 한다.
kaeguri olchaeng i jeok saenggak eul mot handa.
This proverb is something like: “Danger past, God forgotten.” Or, “the parish priest forgets that he has ever been a holy water clerk.” I’m not really familiar with either of those sayings, but I get the gist of it. The truth is that [...]
March marks the start of many new beginnings for us. First, and most excitingly, we started our first Korean class today, Monday, March 2. It is every morning for a month, right in downtown Seoul, at Metro Korean Academy. I suppose it is kind of fitting that we are making our living through the language-instruction [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged school, Work |
