Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mithridates]

Perhaps. Actually I have two specific questions here; perhaps I should have put it in the Q&A forum but that's water under the bridge now.

Was in a bar the other day with gf and her friend. Gave the gf a hug and turned around to see her friend taking our picture, who then said "�������!" and then asked me what that was in English...������� means something along the lines of "doesn't that bug you?" but I couldn't think of anything appropriate. I wouldn't have bothered posting about this but she then said that we probably didn't have anything like that in English, but I suspect there is something appropriate, just nothing is coming to mind. Something you say to your friend when you catch them doing something embarrassing and want to rub it in a bit...

The second question also comes from the same person. Somebody important to her had passed away a few years back and I was briefed on that by the gf ahead of time so I wouldn't put my foot in my mouth during the conversation. After a few hours the friend said that she would let me know a secret about her, and then proceeded to tell me the story, but the gf cut in and said that I actually already knew that. She then said "What! You knew the whole time and pretended not to know! You're a....(what was that word again? ������ or something?)! Once again the question: "What's that in English?" A person who knows something but doesn't let on that they do...what's the word for that?

[jaebea]

mithridates, I had the same problem. Being bilingually (or multi-lingually in your case) competent and using that skill affected my English ability during my short stay in Korea a fair bit. It was worrying to the extent that I had to dash off to bookstores and get some reading material to keep myself sharp.. :)

As for your questions...

The first one, I'm at a loss for what to put here too. I'd lean towards "annoyed, right?" but that's a little off centre too...

The second one, I'd use the word "discreet" but that doesn't have the same ���� as ������...

jae.

[The Lemon]

Not sure we have words or phrases for those concepts. I can't think of any English word or short phrase that fits that bill.

You're probably not losing it.

[maxxx_power]

[kangnamdragon]

[just because]

Definantly,
I'm forgetting words you would only use once a year kind of thing because I just don't hear them anymore. You'll be having a conversation and just can't remember the word. It drives me crazy a little.

Its alright because my Korean is coming along nicely so if I lose a little bit of one language while learning another than that is pretty good compensation.

[schwa]

[tsgarp]

When I had been here about 6 months another American and Iwere discussing something to which I made the comment, "I think the government tries to disencourage that." Hmm. She looked at me funny and said, "you're losing your English."
Anyway, similar problem that's been bugging me for awhile. How do you translate �ƽ��� and ��Ÿ����? As for ������, I'd try a non literal translation and go with something like, "you were being sneaky/cheeky/sly." Yahoo.co.kr's dictionary lists it like this

[mithridates]

Ah, some of those aren't bad, thanks.

I guess for the second you could say "You cheeky b@stard, you knew all along!" and that would work out fine.

For the first one, "Aren't you annoyed?" is okay but sounds a bit awkward; I couldn't imagine using it in a real situation. Perhaps "Haha, that's what you get for trying to cop a feel!" "Consider your @ss busted!" or something like that might work...?

I always try to tell them that phrases like that just jump out when one's in a certain situation and you can't just transcribe them from one language to another but yet they persist in asking.

I sometimes feel like getting some good reading material, Robertson Davies or something of the sort. I remember when I was learning Japanese I had a spell of two years where I didn't read one English book. I was obsessed with learning J and every time I thought about reading a book I felt lazy. I'm more relaxed now.

[schwa]

Robertson Davies! One of the greats, should have got the Nobel. The Deptford Trilogy will change your life.

[peppermint]

I thought I was the only one. He's really underappreciated within Canadian university lit programs.( Perhaps cause he fits into the dead white guy category so well )

I've got Fifth Business and World of Wonders here- forgot the Manticore. The copies are pretty battered and filled with notes, but let me know if you want to borrow them.

[the_beaver]

[schwa]

Dip into this:

http://www.amk.ca/quotations/robertson-davies/

[rapier]

i knew a girl who'd been out here teaching for about 5 years,- her english had definitely suffered: she spoke in that slowed-down, clear classroom tone the whole time... she also tended to look a bit stoned by the whole experience of being here so long..

I guess that being out here, our actual english language abilities become frozen in time: we don't pick up the latest words, phrases etc. Our language doesn't really evolve..

[kangnamdragon]