Korean Job Discussion Forums

jdog2050 · Joined: 17 Dec 2006

And are there really no other ways to say "Hey, awesome"; "Wow, cool"; "great for you"?

It's always "you're so lucky"/"I'm envious".

I used to hear it all the time from students, now I hear it a billion times a day from co-workers.

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

This could be in the other thread about the limited range of phrases used in daily Korean.

In saying that, a large portion of western youth from 10 to 20 years old have an approximate 4 word vocabulary. Awesome, sucks, totally, sweet, maybe add F*ck to that.

jdog2050 · Joined: 17 Dec 2006

alinkorea · Joined: 02 May 2005

Wait till it gets cold. 'ah chu-oh' is heard all the time

Phant0m · Joined: 15 May 2008 Location: in your mind~

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

jdog2050 · Joined: 17 Dec 2006

djmarcus · Joined: 12 Jan 2006 Location: Seoul

hehe, this is funny, I'm gonna start listening for those phrases now.

Scotticus · Joined: 18 Mar 2007

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

jackson7 · Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Location: Kim Jong Il's Future Fireball

I speak Korean and have wondered why certain phrases are use much more than others. The reason my K-GF gave (and dictionaries will back this up in translation) is that Koreans use a single term to mean many things. "좋겠다" is a very common example, as is "재밌다" said when something is fun, or funny, or amusing, or interesting, etc.

This is a big reason why students use the English word "funny" instead of "fun." In English, they can be very different. I was asked by my tae kwon do instructor, "Is tae kwon do funny?" I answered "No," not wanting to offend him, as he is serious and sincere about the martial art. He was puzzled, until I realized he was asking if it is fun.

Congrats on picking up on this fact. It will make your Korean use much more native-like, as well as easier.

jkelly80 · Joined: 13 Jun 2007 Location: you boys like mexico?

i've always been told the "다" form (맛있다, etc) is when you're talking to yourself, so I find 좋겠다 to get kind of annoying. Just say 좋겠어(요) I'm right here and I obviously just told you a piece of info, why pretend like you're the only one that can hear what you say?

The literal meaning, however, is "that must be good/nice". When you ask a Korean they say it means "I envy you" but they must have heard that from the same dead-English generator that causes them to overuse "famous" "these days" and "take a rest". I think it's closer to "good for you".

I blame some hypothetical crusty old professor who went to the same whorehouse as Park Chung hee and was rewarded with writing a increidbly shitty English curriculum 30 years ago.

Cedar · Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 10:41 pm Post subject:

they would not be saying "cho-ah" for cold but chu-wo (actually that romanization is not going to help anyone). It sounds like Chew-wuh (wuh rhymes with duh). It should also be followed by 'yo' when you are saying it, unless you're saying to your much younger and lower status co-workers of kinder students. 추워요.

Cedar · Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 10:46 pm Post subject:

jkelly80 · Joined: 13 Jun 2007 Location: you boys like mexico?