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Privateer
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.
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 Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 3:00 am Post subject: Commonly misunderstood English words |
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List English words commonly misunderstood by Koreans. Say what they think it means, and what it actually means.
1.) Body language. They think it means gestures, i.e. using your body to talk. It actually means what your body says whether you mean it to or not.
2.) Famous. Kdef: having a good reputation or name. Edef: when a good many people have heard of something.
3.) Funny. Kdef: fun or interesting. Edef1: amusing. Edef2: peculiar. |
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nautilus
Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 3:17 am Post subject: |
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Crazy Koreans think this is a severe insult and refers to mental disorder. In reality it has a range of meanings and is rarely a serious word.
Ballad Koreans think it means folk song but in the west it has a wider meaning.
Soso Koreans think it means OK. In reality westerners rarely say this and if they do, it means very mediocre.
Hometown Another over-used word. There are not many westerners who could tell you exactly what or where their "hometown" is.
Boring Commonly misused. "I went to the movie but I was boring"
The Koreans often put this in front of everything. "did you go to the home in the europe?"
Make Koreans see this as a very general verb. "I want to make a boyfriend". |
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Who's Your Daddy?
Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 5:25 am Post subject: |
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| Glamour kdef big breasts |
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fermentation
Joined: 22 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 5:41 am Post subject: |
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| nautilus wrote: |
Crazy Koreans think this is a severe insult and refers to mental disorder. In reality it has a range of meanings and is rarely a serious word.
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Crazy seems to be an insult in asian cultures. I almost got in a fight with a chinese kid once because I called him a crazy painter. I was complimenting his badass painting and he started screaming cuss words at me. |
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alongway
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 6:54 am Post subject: |
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Wow..
lot of know it alls here who clearly know nothing
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| 2.) Famous. Kdef: having a good reputation or name. Edef: when a good many people have heard of something. |
I typically hear this used by Koreans to refer to a feature or food of some other city. You don't get to have a good reputation or name without many people hearing about you.
It's often quite applicable if you bring up some town they'll often point out that it's famous for a certain kind of food, and most people you talk with about that town will ask you if you ate that particular food while you were there (like dalk galbi in Chuncheon). If you're talking about some other kind of usage, it certainly isn't the most common way I've heard the word used here, and it does certainly fall inline with standard english usage as tourist information often includes lines like "XXX village is famous for..."
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| Soso Koreans think it means OK. In reality westerners rarely say this and if they do, it means very mediocre. |
Where i come from So-so is frequently used and not that "rare" at all.
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| Hometown Another over-used word. There are not many westerners who could tell you exactly what or where their "hometown" is. |
We'd typically ask someone "where they are from?" but unless you only converse with people who barely function at a first grade level they'll know what a hometown is. Maybe this only common in place where educated people often have to move for work..
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| Boring Commonly misused. "I went to the movie but I was boring" |
This applies to most words that can be used with ed or ing. Comes from poor instruction mostly, can't image where they're getting that with all you rocket scientists running around.
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| The Koreans often put this in front of everything. "did you go to the home in the europe?" |
See above, this is mostly a misunderstanding of the function of proper nouns vs nouns.
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| Make Koreans see this as a very general verb. "I want to make a boyfriend". |
Because in Korean it is a general verb, it's mostly a direct translation of Korean. A great way to learn the quirks of Korean grammar is through bad translation. It's often a literal translation of Korean and will give you insight into the ways they might say something in Korean that would differ from sentence patterns in English.
| fermentation wrote: |
| nautilus wrote: |
Crazy Koreans think this is a severe insult and refers to mental disorder. In reality it has a range of meanings and is rarely a serious word.
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Crazy seems to be an insult in asian cultures. I almost got in a fight with a chinese kid once because I called him a crazy painter. I was complimenting his badass painting and he started screaming cuss words at me. |
Even after you explain it to them you usually still can't use it. It seems to be more offensive then swearing at someone. |
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comm
Joined: 22 Jun 2010
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:19 am Post subject: Re: Commonly misunderstood English words |
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| Privateer wrote: |
| 2.) Famous. Kdef: having a good reputation or name. Edef: when a good many people have heard of something. |
To be fair, there's a reason that "famous" and "infamous" are different words.
And yes, "fun" vs "funny" is a work in progress. |
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young_clinton
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:20 am Post subject: Re: Commonly misunderstood English words |
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| Privateer wrote: |
List English words commonly misunderstood by Koreans. Say what they think it means, and what it actually means.
1.) Body language. They think it means gestures, i.e. using your body to talk. It actually means what your body says whether you mean it to or not. |
Doesn't it actually mean your body tells others how you feel?
| Privateer wrote: |
| Famous. Kdef: having a good reputation or name. Edef: when a good many people have heard of something. |
But remember things or people that are famous are famous because they have been done well or can do things well or represent something well. People that are bad and worthless but well known tend to be called INFAMOUS. |
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Singularity
Joined: 28 Oct 2012
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:33 am Post subject: |
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| alongway wrote: |
Wow..
lot of know it alls here who clearly know nothing
| Quote: |
| 2.) Famous. Kdef: having a good reputation or name. Edef: when a good many people have heard of something. |
I typically hear this used by Koreans to refer to a feature or food of some other city. You don't get to have a good reputation or name without many people hearing about you.
It's often quite applicable if you bring up some town they'll often point out that it's famous for a certain kind of food, and most people you talk with about that town will ask you if you ate that particular food while you were there (like dalk galbi in Chuncheon). If you're talking about some other kind of usage, it certainly isn't the most common way I've heard the word used here, and it does certainly fall inline with standard english usage as tourist information often includes lines like "XXX village is famous for..."
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I gotta disagree with you here.
Is Philadelphia famous for cheese steaks? No, most native English speakers would say "well known" instead.
Saying, "Gwangju is famous for bibimbap" just sounds wrong to me.
Psy is famous. Kimchi is not. |
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Squire
Joined: 26 Sep 2010
Location: Jeollanam-do
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:41 am Post subject: |
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The 'funny' one is spot on. I'm always calling people up on that
| nautilus wrote: |
Crazy Koreans think this is a severe insult and refers to mental disorder. In reality it has a range of meanings and is rarely a serious word.
Ballad Koreans think it means folk song but in the west it has a wider meaning.
Soso Koreans think it means OK. In reality westerners rarely say this and if they do, it means very mediocre.
Hometown Another over-used word. There are not many westerners who could tell you exactly what or where their "hometown" is.
Boring Commonly misused. "I went to the movie but I was boring"
The Koreans often put this in front of everything. "did you go to the home in the europe?"
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