Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Privateer]

Enjoy. Kdef: have a sexual relationship with someone for pleasure without commitment. Edef: derive pleasure or happiness from something.

Embarrassed. Kdef: an uncomfortable feeling you get when you don't know what to do or say. Similar to 'confused'. Edef: the desire to disappear from view when you realize you've done or said something foolish.

Confused. Kdef: an uncomfortable feeling you get when you don't know what to do or say. Similar to 'embarrassed'. Edef: unsure whether you understand something or not, or having two ideas mixed up.

Not sure if 'enjoy' in its ordinary English sense is actually misunderstood by Koreans but the way its used here can certainly confuse English speakers.

There's also overlap between 'embarrassed' and 'confused' in English as in with the expression 'covered in confusion', but the Korean and English usages generally differ.

[T-J]

I believe Dung on your list refers to the Korean word 똥 and not to the English word dung. These are false cognates and therefore should not be included on your list.

[b-class rambler]

Another possibility for the list occurred to me today - time.

As in when Koreans will often say "Time" or even "Time, time" in situations where most English speakers I know would say "just a moment", "give me a minute", "hold on" etc.

I've never come across any native English speaker who would use "time" in this way and presume there aren't any who would. Or are there?

[Privateer]

Decided my 'enjoy' definition is not quite right.

Enjoy. Kdef: to do something for the purpose of pleasure only, especially have a sexual relationship. Edef: to derive pleasure of happiness from something.

Event. Kdef: a promotional sales event, or any time when you do something special in order to make an occasion. Edef1: an occurrence or happening. Edef2: a social gathering or activity.

Not sure about the inclusion of 'time'. It reminds me of Bilbo Baggins saying 'Time! Time!' in the game of riddles with Gollum.

Re 'dung': I think when Koreans use it to English speakers it's with the expectation that it will be understood because they know it exists in English. The fact that it sounds like the Korean word just makes it easy for them to remember - and easy to forget that it doesn't have quite the same meaning.

[Privateer]

Understand. Kdef: to accept someone's excuse for something. Eg: "I was upset when I swore at you, due to trouble at home. Please understand me." Similar to the English "be understanding" as in "I spoke to her about the problem and she was very understanding". Edef: to comprehend the reason for something.

[Captain Corea]

[Privateer]

^ It's subtle but I think there's a difference between the ordinary way a native speaker uses the English word 'understand' and the ordinary way a Korean uses it.

Most often a NES will use it to say whether they've grasped a concept or not, as in 'I'm not sure I understand' or 'Only 3 people in the world understand Einstein's theory of relativity'. In my experience, students rarely use it in this sense, and usually only when classroom English is the focus of a lesson, so I'm actually teaching them to use it that way.

We also commonly use it in the broader sense of empathizing with another person or knowing why they behave as they do, as in 'No one understands me!' or 'I just don't understand her!'. I suppose students at higher levels might use it this way sometimes.

It can also be used in a plea of extenuating circumstances, as in 'You've got to understand my situation, Bob. There's no way I can meet that deadline with half my team off sick!'. This is the way students most often use it, except they'll use it with only the thinnest excuse: e.g. '(I'm always late because) it takes one hour to get here from my house. Please understand me'. This has always struck me as a bit off because there's (often) nothing particularly hard to *understand* about either the circumstances *or* the reason for the behaviour. There's no information in the excuse that puts the situation in a new light; nor does the student have the tortured soul of an artist, requiring the right key to unlock. No, the student is usually just asking you to go soft on them.

You could say this is just a cultural thing, or an indication of lack of respect for conversational English classes, but the fact remains that this is a misuse of the word 'understand', probably based on the way 이해하다 is used.

[toby99]

Not really misunderstood per se, but Koreans use 'OST' whereas westerners use 'soundtrack', although OST is used correctly.

[b-class rambler]

[jvalmer]

[Captain Corea]

[SoylaMBPolymath]

"Why" instead of "What"...

Ex: I walked into the teacher's office looking for my keys to the English room and the Korean English teacher peered at me from her desk and asked, "Why?" when I think she meant "What?". (As in 'What are you looking for?')

I often hear the teachers ask students, "왜" when they are inquiring with them about things, so I assume that this is an instance where direct translation is simply a bit confusing to me, but I attempted to explain to one of my CT's that you would never say, "Why are you looking for?" or "Why can I do for you?" or "Why do you want?" You would say, "Why are you looking for X?" or "Why can't I do that?" or "Why do you want X?"

[Privateer]

[Privateer]

Individualist. Kdef: one who does what they want without regard to society or other individuals. Similar to 'selfish'. Edef: one who sets their own goals and relies on themself to achieve them, irrespective of whether they conform to social norms, but respecting other individuals' rights.

Friendly. Kdef: a word describing behaviour between friends. Edef: a word describing welcoming and sociable behaviour to all and sundry, particularly those who are not yet one's friends.

[schwa]

Friend. Kdef: a close acquaintance one's own age, or nearly. Edef: a close acquaintance of any age.