Uptempo Global

  Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers! ‘ 약식동원 ’  is an old Korean idiom that means “ Food is the medicine ”. Since ancient times, Koreans have believed that food and medicine have the same origin and good food has the same effect as medicine. It also means that both health and illness are caused by the food they eat and how they eat them. The belief that ‘medicine should only be used when food has failed’ has influenced the creation of traditional Korean medicine. ‘약’  is a Chinese word for ‘ medicine ’ ‘ 식 ’ is ‘ food ’ ‘ 동 ’ is ‘ same ’ ‘ 원 ’ is ‘ source ’ Rice cooked with healthy ingredients  like chestnuts, jujubes, and pine nuts is called  ‘ 약식 ,’  which is literally translated as  ‘ medicinal food ’  or  ‘ medicinal rice ’.  Because ‘ honey ’ was also considered a  medicine (약)  during Joseon Dynasty, honey buckwheat wine was called ‘ 약주, ’ and fried honey rice cake was called ‘ 약과 ’. Korea’s famous condiment, 고추장 (Red chili...

Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers! One of the most popular ice breaker questions in Korea is “혈액형이 뭐에요? (What is your blood type?)”. It’s also normal to try and guess each other’s blood type. “혈액형 맞춰볼게요! (Let me guess your blood type!)”  It would definitely be a weird question for Westerners because the only time you would ask someone of their blood type is to find a match for a blood transfusion .  However, blood types are to Koreans what astrology is to Westerners: a fun way to guess someone's personality and temperament.  Type As are believed to be cooperative and cautious but uptight and stubborn; type Bs are believed to be cheerful and optimistic but unreliable; type Os are supposed to be confident and ambitious but aggressive and arrogant; ABs are believed to be intelligent and rational but indecisive and unforgiving   [스피드훈] 카카오톡 이모티콘 - 혈액형에 관한 간단한 고찰 : 네이버 블로그 (naver.com) Some employers even used to ask their candidates’ blood types at job interviews.  Ho...

Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers!   source:  https://news.sbs.co.kr/  Just as high school students in the United States take the SAT for college admissions, high school seniors in Korea take the  national college entrance exam , also known as  수능 (suneung) , on the third Thursday of November each year. This single test not only determines which colleges the student can apply to but also their fate as a working adult, as the college one graduates from influences the type of career one can achieve. And in an incredibly competitive society such as Korea where education is highly valued, a person’s character and aptitude is also often judged by where they received their college degree. As a result, the day of the eight hour-long 수능 is no ordinary day. Banks, public buildings and the stock market all open an hour later in order to alleviate traffic for students who must arrive by 8:10 am for the exam at 8:40 am. And for students who are running late, police escorts are at t...

Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers!   Why are memes so popular? They express culturally-relevant idea in humorous ways, and challenge people to think about issues in new ways. Have you heard of a bird named Tawny Frogmouth?   According to beautyofbirds.com, the scientific name of the tawny frogmouth is podargus strigoides, and found throughout the Australian mainland.  source: https://twitter.com/rottenpeeel/status/1135941005750837249?s=20 Not many people in Korea even knew about this bird before the meme became popular, which means memes can be a new way of learning these days. This meme reads, “This bird is called the ‘Tawny Frogmouth’. Why isn’t it named ‘Monday Morning Bird’? It looks like a face on a Monday morning.” This is funny because the bird looks like it has dark circles around its tearful eyes, as if it’s saying “I don’t want to go back to work/school. I’m already tired”.  There’s a word “ 월요병 ” in Korea, which is almost equivalent to “ Monday blues, ” but...

Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers! You would have probably heard of teachers saying: ‘It’s your time you’re wasting, not mine,’ ‘If I could have a whole class of you then I absolutely would,’ ‘Not quite, but that’s a very good attempt at an answer,’ or ‘ Your child has been exhibiting some challenging behaviors.’ These are some common things that teachers say in Western cultures. What do Korean teachers say?  Below are nine things every Korean would remember hearing from their teachers when they were in school: https://m.facebook.com/meggooltip/posts/2645530725547564 Turn off the ‘local broadcasting’ – It means to “be quiet”. This class is falling behind. – They say that to every class they teach. Open the window. – Not sure why they say this a lot, but it’s probably because the classroom stinks from sweaty kids who have been running around. Everything I say will be on the exam. – I guess this is a universal thing! You can do anything once you get into college. – Many teachers and...

Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers! If your Korean friend says “Oh, are you going on a date? Put that one-piece down from the grand open event, wear something prettier, apply some rinse on your hair, and be careful of skinship. Fighting!,” what does she mean? Konglish, according to google.com, refers to English words that have been appropriated into Korean. They usually are not readily understandable to native English speakers, but many Koreans get excited to use them, thinking that they are proper English.  “One-piece” means a “dress”. It probably came from English words like “two-piece-suit,” or “three-piece-suit”. The word “dress,” in Korea, is perceived more as a fancy dress like an “evening dress” or a “wedding dress”. If you say “Oh, that’s such a lovely dress,” it’s likely that a Korean girl would say “Oh, it’s not a dress, it’s just a one-piece”. Grand open means Grand -opening. Koreans use this phrase a lot. You might have seen banners that reads “Grand Open” at new restaura...

Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers! Korean Culture & Language / Squid Game / “Red Light, Green Light”: a somewhat literary critique Translation is not just about delivering the meanings of words; it’s also about delivering the experiences that those words inspire. Therein lies the difference between literal and liberal translation. And “Red Light, Green Light” is a liberal translation of the following phrase: Korean 무궁화 꽃이 피었습니다 sound Mu-gung-hwa kko-chi pi-yeot-seum-ni-da meaning Mugunghwa flower has blossomed Mugunghwa is the national flower of South Korea, and it’s a very pretty flower, but of course it is not well-known outside of Korea. For this reason and others, I presume, the Netflix translator(s) took the liberty to drop the literal meaning of the original phrase while conveying the rules of the game. But I can’t help but feel a little dissatisfied with this translation, because it sacrifices the musical and poetic elements of the game that I love. So in this piece, I will t...

Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers!  출처: 카카오 이모티콘 The emojis above are called “오빠티콘” and is really popular in Korea. They are cheesy, funny, and real at the same time. It reads “You like 오빠 that much?,” “Trust 오빠,” “오빠 doesn’t cry,” “오빠 promise you,” “It’s okay, you can cry,” “You don’t know what’s the problem,” “When I was your age,” etc. Many Korean men like to be called “오빠,” or even call themselves “오빠” in third person. For example, instead of saying “내가,” they say “오빠가…”. The one I heard the most is “오빠가 해줄게,” which means “오빠 will do it for you,” as if you are not capable of doing simple things for yourself. If you remind yourself of Psy’s famous song “오빠 강남스타일”. Instead of saying “나는 강남스타일” or “싸이는 강남스타일,” he says “오빠 강남스타일”. That is because guys like to hear “오빠,” especially from the girls they like. But why? The guess is that many Korean men still like to feel superior to their women, because of the seniority culture that I discussed in the last article. Since in Korea, you...