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Commonly misunderstood English words
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Privateer



Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 3:00 am    Post subject: Commonly misunderstood English words Reply with quote

List English words commonly misunderstood by Koreans. Say what they think it means, and what it actually means.

1.) Body language. They think it means gestures, i.e. using your body to talk. It actually means what your body says whether you mean it to or not.

2.) Famous. Kdef: having a good reputation or name. Edef: when a good many people have heard of something.

3.) Funny. Kdef: fun or interesting. Edef1: amusing. Edef2: peculiar.
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nautilus



Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 3:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Crazy Koreans think this is a severe insult and refers to mental disorder. In reality it has a range of meanings and is rarely a serious word.

Ballad Koreans think it means folk song but in the west it has a wider meaning.

Soso Koreans think it means OK. In reality westerners rarely say this and if they do, it means very mediocre.

Hometown Another over-used word. There are not many westerners who could tell you exactly what or where their "hometown" is.

Boring Commonly misused. "I went to the movie but I was boring"

The Koreans often put this in front of everything. "did you go to the home in the europe?"

Make Koreans see this as a very general verb. "I want to make a boyfriend".
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Who's Your Daddy?



Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 5:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Glamour kdef big breasts
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fermentation



Joined: 22 Jun 2009

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 5:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

nautilus wrote:
Crazy Koreans think this is a severe insult and refers to mental disorder. In reality it has a range of meanings and is rarely a serious word.


Crazy seems to be an insult in asian cultures. I almost got in a fight with a chinese kid once because I called him a crazy painter. I was complimenting his badass painting and he started screaming cuss words at me.
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alongway



Joined: 02 Jan 2012

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 6:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow..
lot of know it alls here who clearly know nothing

Quote:
2.) Famous. Kdef: having a good reputation or name. Edef: when a good many people have heard of something.

I typically hear this used by Koreans to refer to a feature or food of some other city. You don't get to have a good reputation or name without many people hearing about you.

It's often quite applicable if you bring up some town they'll often point out that it's famous for a certain kind of food, and most people you talk with about that town will ask you if you ate that particular food while you were there (like dalk galbi in Chuncheon). If you're talking about some other kind of usage, it certainly isn't the most common way I've heard the word used here, and it does certainly fall inline with standard english usage as tourist information often includes lines like "XXX village is famous for..."

Quote:
Soso Koreans think it means OK. In reality westerners rarely say this and if they do, it means very mediocre.

Where i come from So-so is frequently used and not that "rare" at all.

Quote:
Hometown Another over-used word. There are not many westerners who could tell you exactly what or where their "hometown" is.

We'd typically ask someone "where they are from?" but unless you only converse with people who barely function at a first grade level they'll know what a hometown is. Maybe this only common in place where educated people often have to move for work..

Quote:
Boring Commonly misused. "I went to the movie but I was boring"

This applies to most words that can be used with ed or ing. Comes from poor instruction mostly, can't image where they're getting that with all you rocket scientists running around.

Quote:
The Koreans often put this in front of everything. "did you go to the home in the europe?"

See above, this is mostly a misunderstanding of the function of proper nouns vs nouns.

Quote:
Make Koreans see this as a very general verb. "I want to make a boyfriend".

Because in Korean it is a general verb, it's mostly a direct translation of Korean. A great way to learn the quirks of Korean grammar is through bad translation. It's often a literal translation of Korean and will give you insight into the ways they might say something in Korean that would differ from sentence patterns in English.

fermentation wrote:
nautilus wrote:
Crazy Koreans think this is a severe insult and refers to mental disorder. In reality it has a range of meanings and is rarely a serious word.


Crazy seems to be an insult in asian cultures. I almost got in a fight with a chinese kid once because I called him a crazy painter. I was complimenting his badass painting and he started screaming cuss words at me.

Even after you explain it to them you usually still can't use it. It seems to be more offensive then swearing at someone.
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comm



Joined: 22 Jun 2010

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:19 am    Post subject: Re: Commonly misunderstood English words Reply with quote

Privateer wrote:
2.) Famous. Kdef: having a good reputation or name. Edef: when a good many people have heard of something.

To be fair, there's a reason that "famous" and "infamous" are different words.

And yes, "fun" vs "funny" is a work in progress.
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young_clinton



Joined: 09 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:20 am    Post subject: Re: Commonly misunderstood English words Reply with quote

Privateer wrote:
List English words commonly misunderstood by Koreans. Say what they think it means, and what it actually means.

1.) Body language. They think it means gestures, i.e. using your body to talk. It actually means what your body says whether you mean it to or not.


Doesn't it actually mean your body tells others how you feel?

Privateer wrote:
Famous. Kdef: having a good reputation or name. Edef: when a good many people have heard of something.


But remember things or people that are famous are famous because they have been done well or can do things well or represent something well. People that are bad and worthless but well known tend to be called INFAMOUS.
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Singularity



Joined: 28 Oct 2012

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

alongway wrote:
Wow..
lot of know it alls here who clearly know nothing

Quote:
2.) Famous. Kdef: having a good reputation or name. Edef: when a good many people have heard of something.

I typically hear this used by Koreans to refer to a feature or food of some other city. You don't get to have a good reputation or name without many people hearing about you.

It's often quite applicable if you bring up some town they'll often point out that it's famous for a certain kind of food, and most people you talk with about that town will ask you if you ate that particular food while you were there (like dalk galbi in Chuncheon). If you're talking about some other kind of usage, it certainly isn't the most common way I've heard the word used here, and it does certainly fall inline with standard english usage as tourist information often includes lines like "XXX village is famous for..."


I gotta disagree with you here.

Is Philadelphia famous for cheese steaks? No, most native English speakers would say "well known" instead.


Saying, "Gwangju is famous for bibimbap" just sounds wrong to me.



Psy is famous. Kimchi is not.
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Squire



Joined: 26 Sep 2010
Location: Jeollanam-do

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The 'funny' one is spot on. I'm always calling people up on that

nautilus wrote:
Crazy Koreans think this is a severe insult and refers to mental disorder. In reality it has a range of meanings and is rarely a serious word.

Ballad Koreans think it means folk song but in the west it has a wider meaning.

Soso Koreans think it means OK. In reality westerners rarely say this and if they do, it means very mediocre.

Hometown Another over-used word. There are not many westerners who could tell you exactly what or where their "hometown" is.

Boring Commonly misused. "I went to the movie but I was boring"

The Koreans often put this in front of everything. "did you go to the home in the europe?"

Make Koreans see this as a very general verb. "I want to make a boyfriend".


Yea, I would guess the Korean understanding of crazy is what we'd use 'retarded' for

I agree with the so-so point too. Back home I think I'd seen so-so in more subtitled Japanese films than I'd actually heard it used in real life.

Completely disagree on hometown though. I don't think it's an uncommon word at all
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EZE



Joined: 05 May 2012

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shut up! My previous boss held a meeting to tell the foreign staff this an extremely vulgar insult and parents were calling in about a teacher or teachers using this type of dirty language.

In English-speaking countries, it's a forceful or impolite way to say "be quiet."

The OP mentioned funny and I hear this one misused more than any other for the reason he described.
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edwardcatflap



Joined: 22 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 2:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Quote:
The Koreans often put this in front of everything. "did you go to the home in the europe?"

See above, this is mostly a misunderstanding of the function of proper nouns vs nouns.

Quote:
Make Koreans see this as a very general verb. "I want to make a boyfriend".

Because in Korean it is a general verb, it's mostly a direct translation of Korean. A great way to learn the quirks of Korean grammar is through bad translation. It's often a literal translation of Korean and will give you insight into the ways they might say something in Korean that would differ from sentence patterns in English.


Sorry but gotta nitpicks the nitpicks

The first one to me is not a problem with proper nouns v nouns as many proper nouns require articles The UK, The USA, The Mississippi, The Hyatt hotel etc... and many nouns do not e.g. I went to/am in school, prison, hospital. The problem is with articles in general and there are a whole host of mini rules that you can teach the students if you've got the time or the inclination.


'Make a boyfriend' might result from translating from Korean but it could also be a result of generalising in English. After all we say 'make friends' so logically 'make a girlfriend/boyfriend' should follow.

'Famous' in my experience is often used instead of popular as in 'When I was at school Maple story game was very famous etc...

What Nautilus said about 'so so' is correct. It usually has negative connotations, as opposed to 'OK".
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decibalsrising



Joined: 12 Sep 2012
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 3:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

To be honest English is a screwed up language at times.

Why do we say "make a friend" but not "make a girlfriend"?

and

How come most people say "go to church" but not "go to bank" ?
Confused??
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alongway



Joined: 02 Jan 2012

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 3:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Singularity wrote:
alongway wrote:
Wow..
lot of know it alls here who clearly know nothing

Quote:
2.) Famous. Kdef: having a good reputation or name. Edef: when a good many people have heard of something.

I typically hear this used by Koreans to refer to a feature or food of some other city. You don't get to have a good reputation or name without many people hearing about you.

It's often quite applicable if you bring up some town they'll often point out that it's famous for a certain kind of food, and most people you talk with about that town will ask you if you ate that particular food while you were there (like dalk galbi in Chuncheon). If you're talking about some other kind of usage, it certainly isn't the most common way I've heard the word used here, and it does certainly fall inline with standard english usage as tourist information often includes lines like "XXX village is famous for..."


I gotta disagree with you here.

Is Philadelphia famous for cheese steaks? No, most native English speakers would say "well known" instead.


Saying, "Gwangju is famous for bibimbap" just sounds wrong to me.



Psy is famous. Kimchi is not.


http://www.hotelsarti.com/en/where-we-are/riccione-hinterland.html
"This town is famous for spaghetti. "

As I said, tourist information on cities often includes things they're famous for, even food. It's not that different to say a town is famous for a museum, then to say it's famous for a local dish.

Here is an entire english speaking thread devoted to it on a forum, using that exact language:
http://forums.onewed.com/archive/index.php/t-2395.html
"Pittsburgh is famous for perogies."
"Georgia is famous for peaches."

The language is also often used with countries rather than cities, but it is still used with cities. I think the greatest joke is native speakers getting on Koreans for not understanding the language when they don't understand it themselves.
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alongway



Joined: 02 Jan 2012

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 3:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

edwardcatflap wrote:
Quote:
Quote:
The Koreans often put this in front of everything. "did you go to the home in the europe?"

See above, this is mostly a misunderstanding of the function of proper nouns vs nouns.

Quote:
Make Koreans see this as a very general verb. "I want to make a boyfriend".

Because in Korean it is a general verb, it's mostly a direct translation of Korean. A great way to learn the quirks of Korean grammar is through bad translation. It's often a literal translation of Korean and will give you insight into the ways they might say something in Korean that would differ from sentence patterns in English.


Sorry but gotta nitpicks the nitpicks

The first one to me is not a problem with proper nouns v nouns as many proper nouns require articles The UK, The USA, The Mississippi, The Hyatt hotel etc... and many nouns do not e.g. I went to/am in school, prison, hospital. The problem is with articles in general and there are a whole host of mini rules that you can teach the students if you've got the time or the inclination.


'Make a boyfriend' might result from translating from Korean but it could also be a result of generalising in English. After all we say 'make friends' so logically 'make a girlfriend/boyfriend' should follow.

'Famous' in my experience is often used instead of popular as in 'When I was at school Maple story game was very famous etc...

What Nautilus said about 'so so' is correct. It usually has negative connotations, as opposed to 'OK".

Yes certain proper nouns do get a "the" but it depends on their context. The rules are complex and often very difficult for anyone but more advanced students. And school does get it in some situations, for example when you need to put a focus on your physical location "I'm in the school" is perfectly acceptable and used when someone is looking for you and can't find you after you've told them "I'm at school"

Make a boyfriend absolutely is a translation error. If you've ever talked to a single girl, or browsed a Korean social network, you'll see all kinds of girls using "만들고 싶어요" or some variation of that for talking about getting a boyfriend.

That particular usage of Famous is off yes, but I hear that a lot less then I hear them using it to talk about various cities being famous for different food.

So-so might be negative, but i took issue with his claim that it was rare. I frequently heard it in the various places I lived.
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Taylormade



Joined: 31 Oct 2012
Location: Incheon

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 4:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you are sick they say, "Oh you are so poor."
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