Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nourozi]

What does the word "Godzilla" mean in Korea?

A kid got angry in my class a while ago and said to my co-teacher "You are Godzilla!"

Also, I was getting money out one day and I turned around and this girl looked at me and then while I was walking away, she started giggling and said to her friend "hehe Godzilla"

[Steve_Rogers2008]

maybe what it means everywhere else in the world?

[jvalmer]

Do you look like a monster?

[nourozi]

I definitely don't look like a monster and neither does my co-teacher. My co-teacher is quite small too..So I don't think it refers to size.

[Gaber]

Are they kindy kids? At that age they're prone to just making up their own terms

[nukeday]

you did/said something they didn't like and characterized it as a monster. it isn't konglish.

what I'D like to know is what "something" means in konglish. That makes my male students giggle like schoolgirls.. "huh huh, sahm-ting."

[nourozi]

Seriously, it means something different. Being called Godzilla is really offensive in Korea for some reason. Call one of your students Godzilla to test it out.

[Aelric]

The "something" thing, as far as I've been able to surmise, is just a place holder word when they can't think of a noun to use. Granted, I'm teaching middle school, so elementary may be different, but my kids mainly do it when making sentences. Kind of like how they use "interesting" as the same meaning as an adjective placeholder. I attribute it to lenient English teachers (namely, the Korean English teachers) that don't know or want to correct them.

To the OP: I've used Godzilla a few times in reference and it seems to be nothing more than a movie to my students. They know what it is, and they are not big fans because it's Japanese, but there is seemingly no real insult there, other than maybe the kid was mad and calling you ugly or something.

[nourozi]

I see, yes I thought it meant ugly or something like that.

[NYC_Gal]

I called some of my 6th graders Godzilla today, because they were screeching instead of answering the question. They didn't think it was a huge insult, and the other kids laughed.

[chellovek]

Hell I need to start insulting my kids too. If they do something I don't like I just stare blankly at them until they get the picture.