We all know that a huge part of Korean culture is.. eating! However the word 먹다 (to eat) has several different uses in Korean, and if you don’t know these terms.. you may be a bit confused like when you hear “친구 먹었어".. please don’t eat my friend?
Let’s take a look!
까먹다 – to forget
“너 수학 숙제 했어? 오늘까지인거 알지?” – “You did your homework right? You know it’s due today.”
“아.. 까먹었어..” – “Ah.. I forgot..”더위 먹다 – to be overwhelmed by heat
“더위 먹어서 정신이 없나봐요. 아이스 커피 4잔 산다는게 3잔 샀어요.. 죄송합니다” – “I was so overheated that I couldn’t think straight.. I bought 3 iced coffees instead of 4… I’m so sorry”나이 먹다 – to get older
“아이고.. 나이 먹나봐. 허리 아파..” – “Ohh god.. I’m getting so old.. My back hurts..”
“너 19살인데..” – “You’re only 19..”욕 먹다 – to be sworn at or get a bad reputation.
“요즘 그 아이돌 거짓말한거 걸려서 욕 많이 먹더라.“ – “Everyone found out that the idol lied so his reputation is getting ruined.”좀먹다 – to undermine, eat away
“그런 사람들이 사회를 좀먹는거 같아요.“ “Because of people like that, society is being eaten away.”친구 먹다 – to become friends
“우리 3살차이 나는데 그냥 친구 먹기로 했어.” – “We’re only 3 years apart but we decided to be friends” (BTW: generally only people the same age are considered to be “친구/friends”. If there’s an age difference, then one person will be considered the “친한 동생/younger sibling” in the relationship)써먹다 – to use, utilize
“그 농담 재밌다. 나도 나중에 써먹어야지.” – “That’s a funny joke. I’ll have to use it later.”I hope these terms were tasty enough for you to eat right up. More coming soon!
Tag: slang
Crybaby rock
줄임말 (Slang Part 3: Getting Conversational)
So you know the basics of Korean texting slang.. but now you want more.. right? Let’s play with some new words that aren’t just shortened versions, here’s some common conversational slang for you to use.
콜 – to be down, sounds good (can be question or answer)
“치맥 콜?” = “You down to get some chicken and beer?”~각 – feels like
“오늘 비도 오니까 막걸리각인데.. 막걸리 콜?” = “I’m feeling makgoli today cause it’s raining, down for some makgoli?”
“한조에 겐지까지 있으면 질각인데” = “We have both Hanzo and Genji.. feels like we’re gonna lose.”갓~ / ~느님 – God / Someone fantastic
3 pop culture gods of Korea
“갓연아” – Yuna Kim (figure skater)
“유느님” – Jaesok Yu (TV MC)
“치느님” – Fried Chicken (who doesn’t love it?)그린라이트 – Green light to move in (only romantically)
“어제 좋아하는 남자애가 우산 씌워줬는데, 이거 혹시 그린라이트야?” = “Yesterday the guy I like held an umbrella for me, is that the green light?”빵터지다 – Bust out laughing (빵 = sound, 터지다 = explode), LOL
“가디언즈 오브 갤러시 2에서 메리 포핀스 대사에서 진짜 빵터졌잖아.” = “I busted out laughing at the Mary Poppins line in Guardians of the Galaxy 2.”빡세다 – Something difficult
“카페에서 알바하는데 생각보다 빡세더라.” = “Working at a cafe is so much harder than I thought.”흑역사 – Dark past / embarrassing moment
“마이스페이스에 올린 사진들 미친거 같아, 내 흑역사야 진짜.” = “I can’t believe my old myspace pictures, that was a dark period in my life…”
“나 오늘 스마트폰 보고 가다가 넘어져가지고 또 흑역사 하나 생성하고 왔잖아…” = “I had the most embarrassing moment today.. I fell down because I was watching my phone…”오그라든다 – Cringey
“너가 한 아재개그때문에 오그라들었어..“ = “Your dad joke was so cringey..”
* This can be very rude so don’t say this to anyone^^ Post also contains other swear words so don’t repeat these!
개념이 없다 = (slang) No common-sense, brainless, rude (lit. to have no concept of something)
개념을 밥 말아 먹다 = lit. To put one’s concept(common-sense, brains) with rice and eat it (have completely no sense, completely brainless)
x 백지영 개념을 밥말아 먹었군 = Park Jiyoung has completely lost all concept.
미친, 개념을 밥 말아 먹었냐? = Crazy… Have you completely lost all sense??
저놈은 개념이 없는 것 아니라 아주 개념을 밥 말아먹었구나 = That asshole doesn’t just have no concept he’s completely thrown it all away.
x
제가 맛이 가서 그렇습니다. 제가 사랑에 눈이 멀어 개념을 밥 말아 먹었습니다 = I acted like that because I had totally lost it. I was blind in love and completely lost all concept.
말아 먹다 = To take a bit and eat.. ; (slang) To throw away, ruin, mess up…
밥을 국에 말아 먹다 = To put rice in soup and eat it.
내 인생을 말아먹었으니까 = Because I totally screwed up my life..
내가 이걸 다 말아먹었어 = I ruined everything.
Vocab: Sex
Someone was asking about how to say words related to sex and whatnot which is, of course, difficult to find in textbooks. It’s also a vague and potentially very long topic, so this is by no means a comprehensive list~
Body Vocab.
- 좆 // penis (also appears in other words like 좆나 = very)
- 자지 // dick (rude,like he’s a dick)
- 고추 // penis; lit. pepper
- 발기 // erection
- 불알 // testicles, balls
- 음문 // vulva (scientific)
- 보지 // pussy (slang/rude)
- 질 // vagina
- 가슴 // chest
- 젖(가슴) // breasts; 젖 also refers to milk
- 젖꼭지 // nipple
- 음모 // pubic hair
- 생식기 // reproductive organs
Verbs & Phrases
- 꼬리치다 // to flirt, to hit on
- 유혹하다 // to seduce
- 뽀뽀하다 // to kiss
- 키스하다 // to kiss, but more like “making out” kissing
- 반하다 // to fall for
- 섹스하다 // to have sex (Konglish); very direct
- 자다 // to sleep; can be a euphemism for sex
- 떡 치다 // to have sex (slang); lit. to pound rice cake
- 먹다 // lit. to eat; the situation will tell you if it’s meant sexually or not
- 따먹다 // to fuck; lit. to pick or pluck
- 그것을 하다 // lit. to do “it” i.e. to have sex
- 자위하다 // to masturbate
- 오르가즘하다 // to orgasm (Konglish)
- 싸다 // to cum; the same verb is used to say “to pee” etc.
- 사정하다 // to ejaculate
- 설레다 // to be excited (not always sexual!)
간지럽다 // to tickle (the feeling, not the action)
- 야하다 // to be erotic, racy
- 섹시하다 // to be sexy
- 연애하다 // to date, be in a relationship with
- 사귀다 // to go out, begin to date; can also say “친구를 사귀다”
- 썸 타다 // when there is something going on between two people, but they aren’t dating; can also be used to describe your own situation
- 바람피우다 // to cheat on someone
- 헤어지다 // to break up
Misc.
- 허락 // consent
- 콘돔 // condom
- 피임약 // birth control pills
- 성병 // sexually transmitted infection, STI
- 성병 검사 // STI test
- 원나잇 스탠드 // one-night stand; also seen it written as ONS
- 어장관리 // leaving your options open when talking with potential romantic partners; lit. managing the fish pond
- 바람둥이 // a player, sometimes translated as cheater?
- 금사빠 // someone who falls in love quickly
- 짝사랑 // one-sided crush, unrequited love
- 썸남 // the boy you are in a 썸 relationship with
- 썸녀 // the girl you are in a 썸 relationship with
- 밀당 // push-pull; acting hot & cold to keep the other person interested
- 낮져밤이 // a person who is sweet/passive during the day but dominate in bed; lit. lose during the day but win at night
- 낮이밤져 // a person who is dominate during the day but sweet/passive in bed; lit. win during the day but lose at night
- 낮져밤져 // above phrase… just passive all the time
Orientations
- 이성애자 // heterosexual
- 동성애자 // homosexual; many people also say “게이” or “레즈비언”
- 양성애자 // bisexual
- 무성애자 // asexual
If you want to try picking up new words to use in/about these situations, I recommend watching tv shows like 마녀사냥 or youtubers (especially uni. students) like Solfa.
BUT I DON’T WANNAA.. 싫어.
So your boss is forcing you to do a job you don’t want to do, or your mom made you eat your vegetables, and you want to complain about it. LET’S LEARN HOW TO TALK ABOUT IT.
억지로 + (동사/Verb) – To do unwillingly / be forced to do sth
선생님이 농담하셨을때 억지로 웃었어요. – When my teacher told a joke I forced a smile.
입맛이 없지만 엄마가 저녁을 만드셔서 억지로 먹었어요. I had no appetite, but I had to eat because my mom cooked dinner.It can also mean physically forced (clothes, objects, etc.)
억지로 문을 열려다가 문고리가 고장났어요. – I forced the door open and the handle broke off.마지못해 + (동사/Verb) – To reluctantly do sth
안 친한 친구의 부탁을 마지못해 들어줬어요. – I unwillingly did a favor for my friend that I’m not very close with.
좋으면서 마지못해 미팅에 나가는 척 하지마. – Stop pretending like you don’t want to go to meeting (group blind date)울며 겨자 먹기로 + (동사/Verb) – To bite the bullet or grin and bear it (literally translated means to eat mustard and cry)
울며 겨자 먹기로 싼 값에 집을 내놓았어요. – I bit the bullet and put my house up for cheap
표가 다 팔려서 울며 겨자 먹기로 암표를 샀어요. – The tickets sold out so I bit the bullet and bought a scalper’s ticket.The most commonly used phrase is 억지로~, but these are all important pieces of grammar. They are all very similar, but are used in different situations. 마지못해~ is the least serious of the three, and 울며…~ is the most serious.
One common phrase I’ll hear from friends is “마지못하는 척 하지마” when I’m pretending like I don’t want the last slice of pizza, I always want the last slice of pizza.
ANOTHER SLANG POST COMING TO YOU SOOOOOOON
거시기 = 명칭이 기억나지 않는 물건/이름이 생각나지 않는 사람(Whatchamacallit, thingy, thingamajig, thingummy, what’s-his/her-name, so-and-so)
거시기, 그게 뭐더라 = What’s that thingamajig called?
거시기, 걔가 어디 갔지? = Where’d what’s-his-name go?
아직도 거시기 누구야 그 여자 밑에서 일하나? = Are you still working for what’s her face?
자네 거시기 있나? 거 뭐냐… 스크루드라이버 말야? = Have you got a whatchamacallit? You know… a screwdriver?
New words related to finding work
신조어 = newly coined words
태반 = mostly, majority
장기간 = long time
장차 = in the future
시집 = marriage
다소 = somewhat, a little
과장 = exaggeration
일컫다 = refer to
점검 = check, inspection
맛이 갔다
In a bad state
- (food) gone bad, stale, rotten
맥주 맛이 갔어 = The beer’s gone flat.
- (things) broken
내 컴퓨터는 맛이 갔어 = My computer’s given up.
- (people) lost it, gone crazy; done for (when tired/drunk/defeated)
쟤 맛이 갔어 = He totally freaked out.
난 그렇게 맛이 가지 않았어 = I wasn’t that wasted.
Sutdy-Korean 