Hello! This is Lindie, who still finds Korean tricky.
This video's topic is difficult Korean words and expressions.
If one reaches a conversational level in a language,
you'll hear a new word and kind of figure out what it means.
But sometimes, the meaning you've assigned to it is wrong.
You think there's no reason to look up the word in the dictionary
and you make up a meaning but it's wrong.
And while doing so, I've made some big mistakes.
The first one is a word I just recently learnt.
"Kal dap". You guys might know it.
When chatting on KakaoTalk, people use it a lot.
I understood it like this:
"Kal" means knife. It's a tool that can injure a person.
"dap" comes from "dapjang" which means reply.
Kal and Dap put together means knife reply.
"Ah, so this must mean that it's a reply that can hurt someone like a knife can"....
On Kakao talk, I was talking to someone and they said "Hello!"
And I replied with cute version of "Hello~!"
And suddenly they said "Kaldap"
And I was like "What kaldap? I even said hello with in a cute way!"
And they were like "uh no I meant you replied quickly"
So I said "I'm sorry, I'm a foreigner and I didn't understand the meaning of the word. I thought it meant something negative!"
I really, really thought it meant something bad!
Like a knife, something sharp and picky..
I finally know that it means a quick reply!
I searched for the word on Daum (website)and it said...
"Kaldab probably means a quick and straightforward answer"
I also looked for the word on HiNative and in English it said a "quick answer"
It most certainly doesn't mean a rude answer.
I failed.
I actually used this word with other people too!
If someone was off with me, saying stuff like "mhm, yep"
I would say kaldap to them lol
I'm sooo embarrassed loool
Let's swiftly move on to number 2.
This one is a little less embarrassing.
There's a saying "sugohasyeossoyo" in Korean.
sugohasyeossoyo is not really something we translate and use in English.
When I first learnt Korean from a teacher (for about a year and a half)
The teacher told me sugohasyeossoyo is just a much more formal way of saying thank you.
Something a little higher than "kamsahabnida"
When you really want to express a thankful heart.
So I was like "oh so if I feel super thankful to someone I should say this"
The first time I went to Korea I really spoke Korean badly and sounded like this.
I went to church in Korea and after the service a lady brought me a drink or some bread as a gift.
And I said sugohasyeossoyo (you've worked hard! thanks for your hard work and co-operation!)
And she was like "What? I just gave you bread..."
I really thought sugohasyeossoyo just meant thank you.
You can say sugohasyeossoyo and mean thank you, but it's not exactly the same meaning.
I was always really thankful to people in Korea and I'd say sugohasyeossoyo all the time.
Even when I received a coffee in a cafe I would say "thank you for all your hard work!"
It's not completely wrong but it is a bit awkward.
Number 3 is...
"Come UNTIL 3 p.m."
In English, "kkaji" means "until"
I used to work as a waitress in a Korean restaurant.
The Korean restaurant owner told me to "please come until 3PM"
And I was like "If I need to go until 3PM... does it mean I have to be there from now, 11AM, until then?
Do I have to leave the house at 3? Do I have to leave before 3???
This was so difficult for me to wrap my mind around.
I asked him what he meant and when exactly I should be there
And he translated it in English, saying "please come until 4" [I meant to say 3]
If I have to go there UNTIL 3PM, it means I should be there FROM now UNTIL then.
Korean is so tough! There are really things you can't translate directly to English.
Ok and the 4th point... 3rd?
"How did you come?"
Koreans often ask foreigners "How did you come to Korea?"
They often ask this. But if you translate it into English
Kind of like "what kind of mode of transportation did you use to come here"
Foreigners might think it means that.
So if someone asked me "How did you come to Korea?" I would say...
"I... took a plane?"
I guess that's something that isn't easily translatable into English.
One should rather ask "What brought you to Korea?" or "What are you doing in Korea?"
If one asks it really straightforwardly, it might be easier to understand.
But we learn by making mistakes!
Good luck with your language studies
and if there's something you're curious about, please leave a comment!
If you haven't subscribed yet, I would be really grateful if you did!
Ok! See you guys in the next video! Bye bye!