[Korean Culture & Language] Noon Chi

Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers!


Having ‘눈치’ in Korea is essential since it plays a critical role in interpersonal interaction dynamics. It is the ability to judge a situation, people, things, or phenomenon only based on a fleeting perception rather than a rational thought process. ‘눈’ means ‘eye’ and ‘치’ means ‘power,’ and it is similar to ‘emotional intelligence’ in Western cultures.

It denotes the sensitive art of listening and gauging others’ feelings and is connected to the wider idea of paralanguage. It also requires a knowledge of one’s position concerning the person with whom one is communicating.


You can ‘see,’ ‘gauge,’ or ‘have/don’t have’ 눈치.


Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash


Below is an example of ‘눈치를 보다 (Seeing Noon-chi)’ which means ‘Walking on eggshells around someone’:

A: 이번엔 내가 무슨 말로 걔를 터지게 할지 몰라. I’m not sure when I’ll trigger her anger this time. 

B: 너가 하고싶은 말을 해. 왜 네가 걔 눈치를 봐야해? Say whatever you want. Why do you always have to walk on eggshells around her? 


Following is an example of ‘눈치를 채다(gauge Noon-chi),’ which means ‘to take a hint,’ and ‘눈치가 없다(doesn’t have Noon-chi),’ which means ‘bad at taking hints’: 

A: I told him so many times that I’m busy today and tried to get him to leave. He just can’t take a hint! ‘

오늘 바쁘다고 여러 번 말 해서 가게 하려고 했는데 얘는 눈치를 못 채는 것 같아’

B: You should be more direct with him. You know he doesn’t have 눈치(is bad at taking hints).

네가 좀 더 직접적으로 말 해야 해. 걔 원래 눈치 없잖아.


What kind of situations make you feel like you have to see 눈치? Are you someone with or without 눈치?

댓글

댓글 쓰기

이 블로그의 인기 게시물

[Korean Culture & Language] Switching between the liver and the gallbladder

이미지
Hello, this is Uptempo! “Saving face” has always been a very important part of Korean culture. Most Koreans try hard to “ 체면을 세우다 (build one’s face),” and “ 체면을 지키다 (maintain one’s face),” and not to “ 체면을 잃다 or 체면을 구기다 (lose one’s face).” ‘ 세우다 ’ means ‘to build’ ‘ 지키다 ’ means ‘to keep’ ‘ 잃다 ’ means ‘to lose’ ‘ 구기다 ’ means ‘to crumple’ or ‘to damage’ ‘Saving one’s face’ means ‘to build one’s reputation,’ ‘maintaining’ one’s face’ means ‘to keep one’s reputation,” and ‘losing one’s face’ means ‘to lose or damage one’s reputation.’ However, some people are more concerned about their profit than “saving or maintaining their face.” They “ 간에 붙었다 쓸개에 붙었다 한다. ” ‘ 간 ’ means ‘liver’ ‘ 붙다 ’ means ‘to stick’ ‘ 쓸개 ’ means ‘gallbladder’ It is directly translated to “It sticks to the liver for a second and then moves to the gallbladder to stick to it for another.” It describes the behavior of someone who switches between two opposing teams or groups for completely selfish reasons. The...
자세한 내용 보기

[Korean Culture & Language] Stagnant Water

이미지
Hello, this is Uptempo! Stagnant water, often referred to as ‘standing water,’ provides an ideal breeding ground for biofilms. It is unsafe to drink water that has been left out or pooled in one spot for a long time because it contains bacteria or fungi that may carry various germs. Consuming them can cause waterborne diseases like legionella.   Stagnant water may also corrode metal and damage utility infrastructure. Photo by   Jordan Whitfield   on   Unsplash There is an old idiom in Korea ‘ 고인물은 썩는다 ’. It is translated as ‘ stagnant water will certainly go bad ’. ‘ 고인 ’ means ‘ stagnant ,’ or ‘ pool of’ ‘ 물 ’ means ‘ water’ ‘ 썩는다 ’ means ‘ to spoil’ https://youtu.be/jNWHNL1OWig Today, ‘ 고인물 ’ is used as a slang term to describe someone who has spent a significant amount of time in a particular social group or organization, most commonly an online community . The term originated from a gaming community, and it refers to someone who has spent a lot of time playin...
자세한 내용 보기

[Korean Culture & Language] Squid Game/Red light green light

이미지
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...
자세한 내용 보기