Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Benicio]

Two recent additions to the annoyingly nonsensical Konglish lexicon, from a new cell phone advertising campaign:

"Haptic" & "Amoled"
If you've been watching TV lately, you must have seen/heard them.

Have absolutely no idea what they might mean. Asked a few students and they have no idea either. The funny thing is they seem totally uninterested that these seemingly nonsense words were invented to advertise a product- like they are used to it.

Does anyone have any idea what these two annoying buzzwords might mean?

I'm wondering if they are some kind of compound Konglish like "dica" & "selca".

With "haptic", the only thing I can guess is "happy ticket".

With "amoled" (sounds like "marmelade"), I can't imagine anything.

Any ideas?

[ldh2222]

Not new Konglish... just smartphone lingo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active-Matrix_OLED
http://amoled.samsungsdi.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfaGzVuhgxM

[EricB]

Haptic is a real word:



haptic

adj. Of or relating to the sense of touch; tactile.

[Greek haptikos, from haptesthai, to grasp, touch.]


http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/haptic





Amoled is an acronym for active matrix organic light emitting diode
which refers to the type of display the Amoled phone uses.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active-Matrix_OLED





http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/research

[Benicio]

not nonsense after all!

guess these are examples of Koreans choosing words that most native English speakers don't even know.

"haptic" still sounds like a totally made up Konglish word!

[rusty1983]

Thats the problem with those computer dictionaries they all have, they come out with words no one has used for about 300 years. Yet another reason they need native speakers and should never be trusted to use English without a native proof-reader.

If someone goes into a business meeting and uses the word 'haptic' theyre gonna get some very strange looks.

[Korussian]

[Benicio]

This is how I learned the word "compunction"- a feeling of guilt.

A student got it from their dictionary and used it in a writing.
I had to look it up and the student was shocked that I didn't know
what it meant.
It turned into a lesson for the students on how choosing the most
complex word may not be the best choice as many will not know
what you are trying to say.
It's like when people try to use big words to sound smarter, but end
up looking foolish.
There's that rule of writing: don't use a 10 dollar word when a five
dollar word will work just fine!

I guess this could be a difference between Korean & Western advertising.
If a Western ad were to use industry jargon that no one really knew, the campaign would not be supported.
In Korea, they seem to try and use these complicated words to appear smart and creative.

There's a funny example with the old Volkswagon campaign where they made up the word "fahrvergnugen" for humorous effect.

I wonder, if you polled groups of Koreans & waygooks, how many would have any clue what "haptic" & "amoled" mean.
My students sure don't!

[Jane]

haha...I passed the ad yesterday and brought it up with my K husband that Korea gone a step above its regular dumb and incorrect slogans. We tried to figure out what it meant, but had not idea.

Amoled. Sounds like what Kevin Arnold from the Wonder Years accidentally had engraved on his love bracelet for Whinnie. 'Kevin Amold'.

That's all we could come up with.

[redaxe]

Haptic feedback has become common lingo for cell phones in the west now, it means that the phone buzzes when you press a button so you can "feel" the buttons on a touch screen. I knew what haptic meant before I came to Korea.

[earthbound14]

[Benicio]

One of my personal favorites is when they get the word "klaxon"
from a dictionary instead of "horn" as in "The car klaxon is very loud!"

I think the dictionaries have some sort of default that gives the most complicated word hoping it will be the "smarter" choice.

[IlIlNine]

This is not a matter of Koreans choosing the wrong words, this is a matter of you guys being behind the technology curve.

[benji]

Are not Haptic and Amoled the product names? Its like asking what an Ipod or a Twinkie is.

[eamo]

[cwflaneur]