21
votes
Accepted
Do 같이 and 함께 mean the same thing?
For the meaning "together", they are interchangable, but I'd say 같이 is more colloquial.
같이 has other meanings though. These are not interchangable with 함께.
like(adverb) : 선생님이 하는 것과 같이 하세요. (Do it ...
- 7,362
12
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between 일, 하루 and 날?
Stolen from a HINative Answer
일 as a word is a quantifier so we use it to say what day of the month it is.
하루 is 24 hours/a day.
날 is a noun that you'd use to describe a day or say what kind of a day ...
- 511
12
votes
"며느리도 모른다" etymology
It seems to have a modern origin. It showed up in a TV commercial of 고추장 in the 90s. In the commercial, the granny says even her daughter-in-law doesn't know the secret ingredient to her spicy rice ...
- 1,309
11
votes
Accepted
Why does Samsung company name means "Three stars" and not "Three castle"?
If you search for "ant" in a small English dictionary, you will only find about the insect. But "Antarctica" is not ant's Arctic, it's "anti-Arctica", i.e., something ...
- 7,167
10
votes
Is '양반 (兩班)' a sexist word?
Literally speaking, 양반 (兩班) just refers to the two branches of administration that existed in the 고려 and 조선 dynasties. (Civil administration, [문반, 文班] and Martial administration [무반, 武班]). I have seen ...
- 3,904
10
votes
Where does "약방의 감초" originate and what does it mean exactly?
It's not bad! Traditional Korean medicines were really bitter, so people often put 감초 which made the medicines sweeter. So in every pharmacy(약방), there were a lot of licorice(감초). Gradually 약방의 감초 ...
- 1,608
10
votes
What does 전원 위치로! and 서둘러! mean?
전원 위치로! = Everybody back to position! (Sounds very military.)
서둘러! = Hurry up!
- 7,167
8
votes
Are the words 이상 and 이하 inclusive?
이상 and 이하 is always inclusive.
초과 and 미만 is always not inclusive.
Therefore,
3년 이상 is 3 years or more
3년 이하 is 3 years or less
cf.
3년 초과 is more than 3 years
3년 미만 is less than 3 years.
- 81
8
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between 끝나다 and 끝내다?
끝나다 is an intransitive verb meaning that something has ended 'of its own accord' - e.g. 영화가 끝났다 - the film has finished.
끝내다 is a transitive verb meaning someone has finished something - e.g. 그 일을 ...
- 13.4k
8
votes
Accepted
Are 손가락 and 발가락 related to 숟가락 and 젓가락?
-가락 (suffix) denotes bar-like shape that is long and thin, such as fingers. It can also be used as a unit word that can count objects in that shape.
국수 한 가락 (a single thread of noodle)
...
- 1,159
8
votes
Accepted
What does 초고수 mean?
초 is a korean prefix used to add a meaning "super" or "extremely".
Its origin is a Chinese letter 超, which means transcending.
It's often used to exaggerate.
So 초고수 can be ...
- 355
8
votes
Accepted
Meaning of 마지노선?
This is a great example of how a historical/literary/cultural/geographical reference is picked up by another cultural sphere and takes on a life of its own.
La ligne Maginot, as the Encyclopedia ...
- 2,218
7
votes
Accepted
What does "위해" mean here? Not "harm" or "benefit"
-기 위해(서) here means "to"/"in order to".
When you attach -기 위해(서) to verbs, it becomes "to + verb".
For example :
채소를 사기 위해(서) 시장에 갔다.
(I went to the market to buy vegetables).
책을 빌리기 위해(서) ...
- 278
6
votes
Etymology of '가짜' and '진짜'
'짜' is a pure Korean root word meaning "thing; person."
Other words with '짜':
알짜 the best thing; the essence
공짜 a thing obtained without cost; free (of charge)
괴짜 eccentric person
퇴짜 rejection; ...
- 1,963
6
votes
What does 초고수 mean?
고수 : outstanding person
초고수 : 어떤 분야나 집단에서 기술이나 능력이 극도로 뛰어난 사람.
At some area or group, extremely outstanding person in skill or competence
refer : http://dic.daum.net/word/view.do?wordid=...
- 3,031
5
votes
Etymology of '가짜' and '진짜'
Maybe 짜 is pure korean word. But its meaning is pretty well explained by Leftium. In most case it mean a thing or person. But the Thing is there is a word 子[자] that exactly means thing or person as ...
- 322
5
votes
Accepted
What is the right word for nationality in Korean?
You confused 사람 (with a final consonant of ㅁ) 'person' with 사랑 (with ㅇ) 'love'.
Nationalities in Korean are expressed in the format 'Country name+사람'. Examples:
한국 사람: a Korean
미국 사람: an ...
- 2,130
5
votes
Accepted
What kind of cheese is 눈꽃치즈 (snow cheese)?
It is a proper noun, a brand name of a specific fried chicken restaurant franchise.
By the way, I think it can't be called as a kind of cheese, because it is just a cheese-flavored seasoning powder. ...
- 1,554
5
votes
Accepted
What is the meaning of 가다듬어? Naver dictionary wasn't much help
The 국립국어원학습사전 has more complete definitions for 가다듬다:
brace; pull oneself together
마음이나 정신 등을 바로잡다.
To collect one's mind, spirit, etc. together.
adjust oneself
몸가짐이나 자세 등을 단정하게 정리하다.
To straighten ...
- 1,969
5
votes
Accepted
what's the old korean saying, "Nuh jukgo, nah jukja"?
The phrase is fairly common as evidenced by the fact that I've heard it used several times, typically in fun conversation where the user is joking.
너죽고 나죽자
This can be literally translated as
...
- 3,265
5
votes
Accepted
저는 만지지 마십시오 meaning with context
The -십시오 ending is a polite imperative, for polite requests and instructions. You would only use this ending when you're talking to someone else; the sentence therefore means "Do not touch me".
This ...
- 13.4k
5
votes
Accepted
Is the Korean on this van referring to a church?
Oddly, we already have this question on the SE network:
https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/52587/what-is-written-on-the-mini-bus
They've translated it as "Hallelujah Church of Scranton", ...
- 13.4k
5
votes
Accepted
What does 뜨겁게 mean?
뜨겁다 can be meant "hot" or "full of energy/passion".
So, the sentence means "firstly, clean passionately".
- 1,258
5
votes
Accepted
Five-colored strings on a fishing boat?
That's an old song, I think.
To understand the phrase, you should note that the five colors (red, black, blue, yellow and white) represent Five Elements. Affected by religions such as Taoism and ...
- 3,238
5
votes
Why does Samsung company name means "Three stars" and not "Three castle"?
「城」 (재 성, castle) and 「星」 (별 성, star) are homophones, but the company started off literally as 「株式會社 三星商會」 (주식회사 삼성상회, Samsung Trading Kabushiki-gaisha). 「三星」 means three stars.
Here's a photo of ...
- 800
5
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between "이곳" and "여기"?
여기 = here.
이곳 = this place (이 = this, 곳 = place).
I believe 여기 is the more informal one of the two. They are usually interchangeable, but 이곳 probably works better when you are referring to a place ...
- 1,214
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