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Hi. I am on a Christmas/New Year holiday. The plan was to write more often but I got lazy. Nothing new about that. :) I managed to hang out with a friend of mine a few times though. We are miserably single. So every time we ended up renting on and on about how this was possible! After a much longer contemplation, the only logical conclusion is that this is an act of karma. ;) Anyway, most of days, I am just sitting around, eating one meal a day - really big though - and watching TV news on the wild weather around the globe. I feel sorry for those affected and hope it gets better soon. To help you stay positive, I would like to share this expression. :) Think of it as a small misfortune that prevents a bigger one. 액땜했다고 생각하세요. 액땜, aekddem, preventing misfortune 했다고, hatdago, have done 생각하세요, sangakhaseyo, think as such (생각하다) 액땜했다고 생각하세요. aekddemhatdago sangakhaseyo. This is an expression that we use to cheer up someone who has experienced a misfortune. Lost wallet, small accident, argu...

Hi. Recently, the US president Barack Obama signed a bill to repeal "Don't ask don't tell" policy . Not only this is a significant event to many gay people, it also is a good news to all of us because the world is becoming more tolerant towards people with different beliefs and choices in life. Lady Gaga had a strong voice on this and she was recognized for her work . She and her 25 million fans on facebook can certainly contribute to making the world a better place. I wish Dalai Lama had 25 million fans on his facebook page . We will be able to change the world much faster following his simple teaching: kindness and compassion towards other beings, without seeing an eyesore like a meat dress or a US-airport-security-proof transparent dress . I am a little scared of what Lady Gaga is capable of now. Do I just need to work on my tolerance? :P She is pushing the limits. 별의별 짓을 다 하네요. 별의별, byolebyol, all sorts of 짓을, jitsol, an act + suffix 다, da, all 하네요, haneyo, do ...

Hi all. I love all kinds of animal shows on TV but I have to say that "Harry's Practice" is one of my favourites. Its intro song is so cute and catchy I used to sing along. :) It was really disappointing when the show ended for good quite a few years ago. But it was all for the better. Now we have this hunk of a man on " Bondi Vet ". :) Anyway, I was watching this show tonight. There were many good episodes even though there was one slightly annoying thing. It was how they sliced up each episode and showed one minute of one episode and then another. It was like, cat->dog->goat->cat->rabbit->dog->cat->rabbit... I was on an emotional roller-coaster ride thanks to this style of editing. It was driving me mental! I am totally losing my senses. 정신이 하나도 없어요. 정신이, jungsinyi, conciousness + suffix 하나도, hanado, not even one 없어요, upsoyo, is not there 정신이 하나도 없어요. jungshinyi hanado upsoyo. 정신 could also mean spirit as in " 일당백 정신 " from a fe...

Hi. I came across this news about an actor injured while performing a live stunt in a musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark”. Hmm... I thought the reason why the movie version of it had so much CG was because it was rather dangerous to be performed by real human. :( Anyway, I hope he gets better soon. You'd better know what you are doing. 만만하게 보면 큰 코 다친다. 만만하게, manmanhage, negligible or trivial (만만하다) 보면, bomyon, see (보다) 큰, kun, big 코, ko, nose 다친다, dachinda, hurt (다치다) 만만하게 보면 큰 코 다친다. manmanhage bomyon kun ko dachinda. 만만하다 means something is not taken seriously. U-Kiss has a song called " 만만하니 " which could be translated as "You think I am a joke?" judging from their attitude on the video clip. :) '큰 코 다친다' is an expression meaning 'you may fail despite your confidence'. It is an interesting idiom because not may Koreans have a big nose. So it got me thinking. Maybe an inspiration of this expression is people who are arrogant just because t...

Hi. I am not sure if you heard about what I would label as " Chickengate ". Basically, a big shopping chain in Korea decided to sell fried chicken at a fraction of the market price. A lot of small franchises got angry as this disrupted their business significantly. That company had to close the sale of cheap chicken after nine days. I am sure those people who were willing to stand in a queue for hours to eat cheap chicken are very disappointed. This obsessiveness over food reminded me of this proverb. Even a ghost looks better on a full stomach. 먹고 죽은 귀신은 때깔도 좋다. 먹고, moggo, after eaten 죽은, jugun, dead 귀신은, guisinun, ghost + suffix 때깔도, ddaeggaldo, even skin complexion 좋다, jota, good 먹고 죽은 귀신은 때깔도 좋다. moggo jugun quisinun ddaeggaldo jota. If someone is about to die from hunger then sees someone else's food, he would say this and eat even if he gets punished from stealing. He/She dies either way. So, this expression is useful when you want to eat something regardless conseq...

Hi. It is a very grateful thing if you have a job in this economically uncertain time. But there is a price to pay. To be able to keep your job these days, you need to become a Super Employee. Super Employees are people who can perform duties which are not the responsibilities that they have signed up for originally. And of course their performance on these tasks should be as professional because there is no room for mistakes. As an example, the pilots at Japan Airlines were asked to clean the cabin so that they can cut cost from cleaning crew. What a great idea! Why didn't think of this to begin with? I am a Super Employee. 저는 일당백 직원입니다. 저는, jonun, I (polite) 일당백, ildangback, one who is as capable of one hundred 직원입니다, jigwonimnida, am employee 저는 일당백 직원입니다. jonun ildangback jigwonimnida. 일 is one. 당 is per as in "per week". 백 is one hundred. So 일당백 literally mean one hundred of something per one. And we use this expression when one has to cover for many people. For exa...

Hi. Things at work were not great yesterday. A lot of things didn't work out the way I hoped. Probably the most productive activity for me was that I cooked sausages for BBQ lunch at work. They were cooked to perfection! :) Anyway, I left work feeling helpless. I found my car at the car park and open the door. I threw my bag to the seat on the other side as I collapsed into the driver's seat... only to find out that there was no wheel in front of me. I was sitting in the wrong seat. D'oh! No one else was there but it was still embarrassing. :( I am forgetful these days. 제가 요즘 깜박깜박 해요. 제가, jega, I (polite form) 요즘, yozm, these days 깜박, ggambbak, describing forgetfulness 해요, haeyo, do (하다) 제가 요즘 깜박깜박 해요. jega yozm ggambbakggambbak haeyo. 깜박 can also be used to describe when light is twinkling or when eyes are blinking. I think this expression is describing forgetfulness using a twinkling light as analogy. The mind is sometimes there and sometimes not. :) There is a slight dif...