hahaha

My cousin VP likes to take an occasional gander through the work 'n' play forums, and somehow she always manages to find jems like this posting:

hello, i'm a goose father who sent my family to chicago 3 yrs ago. so i live alone in mok-dong.(we call it 'goose father' hahaha)

i'll get a green card in the near future, and then i'm going to fly to chicago. i wanna speak english more fluently before i go there. i'm looking for a person who is a native english speaker, wants to learn korean, and lives around mok-dong area.

i've experienced language exchange in san fransisco in 1997 when i worked as kind of a correspondent of a newspaper. i taught korean to a berkley graduate who was supposed to be a english teacher in high school in korea. and he helped me learn english. nevertheless, i'm still not good at speaking and listening english like most koreans. but i'm confident of grammar and writing(do u agree with that? hahaha) so the most needed for me is spoken english.

i was a reporter, and i am a general director in charge of a business department in a newspaper. well, i'm willing to buy u a meal during our language exchange class. i know a very good italian restaurant around here. hahaha

if u live in an area a lttle far from mok-dong, i ask u to come here. mok-dong is very convenient for u to come by subway no.5.

it doesn't matter if u are male or female. i'm, of course, male in the 40s. too old? hahaha

why don't u give me a email, meet twice a week in mok-dong, and exchage languages with me? my email address is xxxxxxx@naver.com

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I bolded the bits that I found most memorable. I'm particularly taken with the way he sprinkles his message with *laughter* (I'm sure the hahahas would sound less creepy in Korean. ㅋㅋㅋ).

I think I need to meet this guy. hahaha

I am 파인.

In my opinion, Konglish goes both ways. Just as Koreans for many decades have adopted English words as their own unique means of expression, gyopos around the world have integrated Korean terms into their daily expressions.

Though we primarily speak to each other in English, Cyndi and I, for example, are prone to use certain Korean terms because it just rolls of the tongue more easily.

Here are some of our favorite Korean words, most of which do not have an exact English counterpart. I should note that our usage of these words may slightly depart from the dictionary definition. That's why I think of them as Konglish.

naesoong (내숭 )
Approx. meaning: To be coy
Example usage:
Salary Man: Sshindi, one shot!
-Cyndi takes a small sip from her soju glass-
Annalog: Cyndi is being so naesoong right now. She drinks a whole bottle of soju for breakfast.


bbijyeo (삐져 )
Approx. meaning: To be ticked off; miffed.
Example usage:
(1)Piggy is bbijyeo because you're sleeping on her pillow.
(2) The ajusshi had to skip sam-cha, before his wife gets bbijyeo.


byeollo (별로 )
Approx. meaning: shoddy; unimpressive; it sucks.
Example usage:
(1)Dang, that restaurant is so byeollo. I can't believe they charge man-won for that abomination they call "steak."
(2)Annalog: Cyndi, what did you think of that guy?
Cyndi: Byeoll0...

daechoong (대충)
Approx. meaning: to do roughly/approximately; half-arsed.
Example usage:
(1)Cyndi: The recipe calls for 50 grams of butter. How much is that?
Annalog: I don't know... Just daechoong it.
(2) I made Cyndi some miyeok-gook for her birthday, but I just made it daechoong. I just used dashida and water.

(Neither Cyndi nor I really use this term, but I like the sound of it.)
jjajoongna! (짜증나!)
Approx. meaning: to be mad irritated.
Example usage:
(1)Blech. That ajusshi... Jinjja jjajoogna.

It's really easy to make fun of the Engrish on Korean t-shirts or stationery, but I'm sure that if native speakers heard our usage of Korean terms, they'd have a laugh as well.

Even though their usage of English may sound hilarious to my ears, Koreans at least have a sense of humor about their Engrish.

See. Check out this pineapple ice bar. It's called the "I'm Pine" bar. It's a Konglish pun! I'm not sure if the makers of this confection were being ironic (especially given their default recitation of "I'm fine. How are you?") , but I like to think so.















The bar has a creamy strawberry exterior and an icy pineapple flavored interior. It's not as tasty as it sounds, but it's only 700won.

Self-Correcting Vandal

Looks like some young tagger has been paying attention in hagwon.

PMS: Thumbs Up!

Korean men are brave. American men tend to lay low when it's their woman's time of the month. Korean men on the other hand, have boldly decided to embrace the most sensitive time of a woman's cycle, or as we call it back in the homeland, PMS.

The poster says it all. When it comes to aches, moodiness, cravings, headaches, fatigue, bloating, severe cramping, and not to mention, heightened aggression, Korean men say, "Thumbs Up. We're here for you, babe."
















I looked up this PMS, and it seems that PMS stands for "Pre-medical School," not "Premenstrual Syndrome." You'd think that a pre-med school would be familiar with premenstrual syndrome. On the other hand, according to a naver search, the Korean word for PMS appears to be 월경전 증후군. (Is that right, Heng 선생님?) That is quite different from "PMS."