Korean Job Discussion Forums

[idonojacs]

So, big news! Koreans are reading Dave's.

Good for them, if they are reading it in English. Somebody out there is actually doing their job teaching Koreans.

I am, however, a little concerned that some are reading this in translation. I have noticed that the meaning of English words is not always the same to native speakers and Koreans.

And so to help our Korean friends, as well as Native speaker newbies, I suggest we compile a dictionary of frequently misunderstood English words and phrases.

One that struck me early on was "camping."

When North Americans say they are going camping, they generally mean they are going tenting in a rustic area, often hiking in with a backpack and sleeping bag. Sometimes people go camping with a car at a campground, but then erect a tent at an assigned space. They then cook dinner over a wood campfire, though they may bring a camp stove.

Here is a dictionary definition:

"to live temporarily in a camp or outdoors -- often used with out"

When Koreans talk of going camping, it seems they mean taking a tour bus to a picturesque location and sleeping in a motel. Dinner is in a restaurant.

Am I wrong, Korean friends?

Anyone notice any other linguistic discrepancies to add to this compilation?

[Yu_Bum_suk]

When Koreans think of 'camp' they usually think of somewhere like Paju English Village.


At any rate, I'll add another: expect.

'To expect' means one thinks that something will happen, or is demanding something be done propoerly. It does not mean 'to look forward to'.

E.g. there's a big typhoon coming, so I expect it to rain a lot, but I'm sure not looking forward to it.

Or, e.g. I expect my students to bring their textbooks to class and have their homework done, because if they don't, they sure won't like the consequences.

[minorthreat]

[mikekim]

Huzzh, you want a Konglish-English dictionary. There are already many threads about Konglish.

[RACETRAITOR]

"Camping" is a good one.

The one that annoys me is "famous." As in "Suwon is famous for galbi, Pyongyang is famous for naengmyun, or Busan is famous for pajun." It might make more sense to say "galbi is popular in Suwon" or "they have the best galbi in Suwon." Is it really "famous?"

[idonojacs]

mikekim wrote:

[LuckyNomad]

Picnic is always misused at my school. They always say were going on a school picnic, but nobody ever brings any food???? I believe the term is, field trip.

Holiday. We seem to have a holiday every Sunday here. It's called a day off. English speakers outside of the US also misuse this term by saying, "I'm going on Holiday."

Supermarket is another one. The 25 Mart is not a Supermarket.

House. An apartment is not a house.

[jaganath69]

The confusion over fun/funny is another one that despite years of toiling hard to eliminate, still annoys the f$ck out of me.

[wo buxihuan hanguoren]

I am so boring.

[Corky]

Mountain climbing = hiking

cheer-up = whatever the *beep* it means, it doesn't mean "cheer up"

[wo buxihuan hanguoren]

[Hoegaarden]

I would like to add mania.

[RACETRAITOR]

[idonojacs]

"I love you." or "You are beautiful."

Apparently it means "hello."

At least I hope it does, coming from students. Given I am male.

Who the heck is teaching these kids to say this?

[Young FRANKenstein]

Hip.

Even the Korean-English dictionaries have it wrong. The hip is not your ass 엉덩이), but that's what the dictionary says it is.

Hip(bone) and ass are not the same by about 10cm.