Korean Job Discussion Forums

[vox]

I'm trying to make a 'Diary Tips and Common Mistakes' for our diaries program and some common errors have come up about which I'd like to clear the air. My fellow native-English-speaking ELI and I have made a series we're going to print off on labels and give a sheet to each class which submits diaries so they can peel one off and stick one on. We hope to rope in most of the common repeated mistakes.

So I get to the part about differentiating words like 'fun' and 'funny', 'scared and 'scarey' etc. I asked my co-teach to check these but I'm kicking myself because I fear my lack of confidence in her English, which is really really terrible, means she herself may not have known the answers to these.

So I submit this list in the hopes that some advanced Korean speakers can straighten it out.

THE CONTENTS
Me..............................................Korean co-teacher
Bore 지겨워하다...........................Bore = 지겨운따분한
Bored 지겨워~.............................Bored = 지겨운
Boring 지겨운

Excite 흥분되다
Excited 흥분돼~...........................Excited = 흥분한
Exciting 신나는

Interest 흥미롭다
Interested 흥미로워~....................Interested = 흥미를가진
Interesting 흥미로운......................Interesting = 흥미있는

Setting straight welcome. I'm digging through texts now but it's not like there are a lot of sources for this sort of thing where you can quickly reference. One of the problems is that the postposition particles end the same way as a postposition for another word.

[RACETRAITOR]

A Korean coworker told me there is no unique word in Korean for funny, and Koreans consider fun and funny to be the same concept. Not sure if I trust her English either, as apparently she has a high TOEFL score.

[vox]

[samd]

I like your Korean language posts vox, keep 'em coming.

[vox]

[Justin Hale]

웃기다 is to arouse laughter. This is totally distinct from 재미 (fun/enjoyment) as far as I know. English too has concepts - 'to amuse', 'amusing' - which can mean both. I'm convinced that the 'fun = funny' equation by Koreans is the result of being taught English by Koreans who have a tiny, at best, grasp of the English language.

Not sure what to make of the OP because it contains a mixture of descriptive verbs and adjectives. In Korean, adjectives are always accompanied by an object whereas descriptive verbs don't have to be. So one should not mix them up. 재미있다 and 재미있는 are both 'fun' but one is a verb ('to be fun') and one an adjective which must take an object ('a fun activity').

The rule of thumb in English is that '-ed' describes feelings and '-ing' things (I am interested/it is interesting). So, actually, perhaps the Korean adjectives are like '-ing' adjectives and '-ed' more like the descriptive verbs ("aiish - 심심하네" = "jeez, I'm bored").....with the obvious exception that English '-ed' adjectives can also take objects - the bored person, the scared girl, the interested onlookers, the surprised teacher, etc. - but again these are describing feelings and not 'things'.

[JustJohn]

How do you say funny like strange funny?

I tell my students "this way sounds funny" sometimes, and even when I explain I'm not sure they get it.

[Korlingus]

[JustJohn]

Helpful, but I'd still like to know the word for strange funny.

[Justin Hale]

[ajgeddes]

[JustJohn]

Why would you assume I'm assuming that? I specifically asked for strange funny, as opposed to humorous funny.

The only reason I didn't simply request the word strange is that funny has a slightly different shade of meaning, and strange isn't precisely what I want to say. Strange would suffice though.

[Justin Hale]

[JustJohn]

Lessons in logic:

1. Asking for the word that means strange funny does not in any way shape or form imply that the asker believes that there is a word in the other language that shares the dual meaning of funny. It asks "What is the word that has the same meaning as funny does in the specified context?" Nothing more.

2. That doesn't give you any reason to assume that I was looking for a word identically equal to funny in all its meanings either. Opposed to. Different than. The correct inference from this is that I was assuming that they would be different words.

3. Yes, slightly.

4. Tell me how.

[ajgeddes]

이상하다