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Koreabound2004
Joined: 19 Nov 2003
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 Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 12:12 am Post subject: What did this lady say to me today? |
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On my way home from work....enjoying the nice warm breeze, counting the weeks left in my head.... AND thinking of how to seek revenge on my coteacher.........I see this very old lady(80-90 yrs old) peering over her fence at me....I live in the countryside, lots of houses with fences and such....and tons of old folks...but anyways...my point....
I see her hanging over the fence, looking at me with her toothless mouth wide open, her skin like worn leather...and since I am always relatively respectful of the old folks here(they've been through a lot), even if they don't like me, or don't want to sit or walk near me......As I was saying, I looked at her, smiled and gave her a nod. She then yelled something like, "WEH GI BAH!" Emphasis on the BAH.....I didn't look back, judging by the tone, she wasn't a happy camper....anyone know what she might have been trying to say to me?  |
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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| Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 12:17 am Post subject: |
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| "Why are _you_ so happy?" |
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Swiss James
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 12:30 am Post subject: |
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| "Show us yer knob!" |
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kangnamdragon
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Location: Kangnam, Seoul, Korea
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| Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 12:32 am Post subject: |
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| dogbert wrote: |
| "Why are _you_ so happy?" |
I believe dogbert is correct. |
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christopher1magelli
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 1:47 am Post subject: 3 cents |
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I think she was saying or trying to say "Yogi wey baay"
Or in Englishee "What are you looking at" |
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casey's moon
Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Location: Daejeon
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| Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 3:42 am Post subject: |
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Hey, Koreabound2004, you probably aren't bowing low enough to these elderly folks. I was getting bad reactions from grandmothers and grandfathers as well, until I learned just how low I had to go to be respectful to someone that much older than myself. The difference in their reactions was shocking! It was like they didn't even recognise that I had been trying to bow -- they just thought I was doing some sort of weird thing that may or may not be a greeting. Once I got it right I found that 90% of the old folks in Korea are quite friendly!
As for what she said, it's pretty hard to guess, except that the first word was almost definitely "Why" and the last word was probably "look," which seems to be the consensus of the other posters on this thread as well. |
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Koreabound2004
Joined: 19 Nov 2003
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| Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 4:06 am Post subject: |
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Well thanks for all the responses, I doubt I will ever bother to try to be friendly with her again....I just don't have the patience nor the energy to go that extra mile of bowing until I am in half....especially when I don't know what on earth she is saying to me in response. At any rate, I don't think her and I will ever be buddies.  |
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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| Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 4:24 am Post subject: |
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| Based on what you wrote, I guessed that she said, "�� �?", which does indeed translate to "What are _you_ so happy about?" |
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peemil
Joined: 09 Feb 2003
Location: Koowoompa
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| Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 6:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Based on what you wrote, I guessed that she said, "�� �?", which does indeed translate to "What are _you_ so happy about?" |
If that is indeed the case, you'll need to learn how to say "I just got laid" in Korean for next time. |
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peony
Joined: 30 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 6:40 pm Post subject: Re: 3 cents |
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| christopher1magelli wrote: |
I think she was saying or trying to say "Yogi wey baay"
Or in Englishee "What are you looking at" |
i agree, something to that effect
some older people consider staring straight at them to be rude, its more polite to avert your eyes so maybe she was offended when you looked at her?? |
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Hanson
Joined: 20 Oct 2004
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| Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| some older people consider staring straight at them to be rude |
Unfortunately, they have no problem doing it to the way-gook...  |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 8:54 pm Post subject: two farthings |
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| peony wrote: |
| christopher1magelli wrote: |
I think she was saying or trying to say "Yogi wey baay"
Or in Englishee "What are you looking at" |
i agree, something to that effect
some older people consider staring straight at them to be rude, its more polite to avert your eyes so maybe she was offended when you looked at her?? |
Why, the bloody cheek of the OP... not averting his/her eyes politely! Or, if Dogbert's guess is correct, what right does Koreabound2004 or any of us think we have walking around all happy, contented and disrespectful like that, hmm??!!
Though thankfully rare, I have met my quota of sweet-looking yet remarkably snarky old coots in my time here. In some cases, I'd have to think age and senility are mostly to blame, but others are just way wound up and haven't the slightest compunction about unloading on the uwary weygookin that wanders into their range.
We were looking at a house for sale last year, in a neighbourhood that had aesthetically seen much better days (by my own subjective standards). But there were a few affordably priced old hold-outs -- large, grand-looking homes with gardens and off-street parking -- surrounded by modern-day, instant-slum construction: multi-use commercial/residential buildings, cramped villas with laundry hanging out of every veranda, not a speck of greenery anywhere, obstructed views all over, trash from shops and residences lying out uncollected and leaking in smelly puddles, etc.).
We were standing outside the front gate of this one house -- myself, secretary, a photographer, and the realtor -- waiting for the seller to arrive with the keys to let us in. Someone's sweet-looking old grandmother (late 70s/early 80s) comes waddling along. I'm just about to bow and greet her when, just as she passes us, she cackles: "(Damn) foreigners buying all the good houses... grrrr ! "
I'm absolutely  , the realtor is  as hell, and everyone else is looking seriously  .
Some background and assumptions: Foreigners are definitely NOT buying up all the houses, good or bad, anywhere in Korea, let alone that out-of-the-way neighbourhood. I'm sure I'd've been the first foreigner to buy a home there. That's the background. My assumption is that this old shrew doesn't know foreigners weren't even allowed to buy our own homes until last Thursday afternoon, figuratively speaking, and beyond that, I'm probably one of two or three foreigners she's ever gotten close enough to to even exchange a friendly "hello" (not that I'd expect her to be friendly).
The seller arrives, we check out the house and grounds, and I'm liking what we're seeing.... though it's just not exactly what I'm looking for. But rather than say that, I decide to pitch a big hairy stink about the nutty old grandma and her insulting comments. "Look, the property is great, and I think the price is very reasonable. It's just that we really couldn't do anything with it. I'm afraid the 'local attitudes' here are incompatible with our plans... But hey, thank you very much for your time, and best of luck with your house sale!"
I then feigned an urgent call on the mobile to "another realtor" ( ) and stepped outside for a few minutes. My secretary, who remained inside the house at that point, later told me there was a lot of cursing & hand-wringing about Korean xenophobia shooting individual Koreans in the foot during those minutes while I was out of earshot.
For the next two months the realtor kept calling us back with lower and lower offers for that house, refusing to believe that I wasn't just using the old coot's comments as a haggling tactic. We played him along until he gave up. |
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Swiss James
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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You are mean.
Funny, but mean. |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 11:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Swiss James wrote: |
You are mean.
Funny, but mean. |
Oh, I s'pect I was being a tad nasty there.  Really, everyone but the seller & realtor knows I'm the last person to take what the old granny said personally. As rare as they are, though, comments like those do tend to annoy me, that I won't deny. And if I couldn't turn them around and have a bit of fun with them, if I started letting them get to me... well, I'd never have lasted this long.
People will learn all sorts of silly ways of maintaining dignity and sanity under unpleasant circumstances. That is, they should. If they don't, then it's best for all concerned if they exit the scene.
But hey, I shouldn't have to tell you all this -- you're my sock, or haven't you heard? |
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periwinkle
Joined: 08 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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| peemil wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Based on what you wrote, I guessed that she said, "�� �?", which does indeed translate to "What are _you_ so happy about?" |
If that is indeed the case, you'll need to learn how to say "I just got laid" in Korean for next time. |
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