[Korean Culture & Language] Getting a Pink Skirt

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‘끝말잇기(Word chain),’ often called ‘grab on behind’ or ‘last and first,’ is a word game in which participants must come up with new words that start with the letter or letters that the previous word ended with. The players typically choose a category of words, set a time limit, and prohibit the use of the same word twice in the same game.


There’s a similar game called ‘이어말하기’ in Korea. Participants must guess the remaining half of a word or phrase when the MC only presents half of a word or phrase. For example, if the MC says ‘Sung(선글),’ the participant must respond by saying '라스(lass)'.


Below video features Lee Eun-ji (comedian), Mimi(rapper), Lee young-ji (rapper), An Yu-jin(singer/idol) playing ‘이어말하기’ at ‘지구오락실(Earth Arcade),’ an increasingly popular entertainment program that has been showing on tvN since June 24, 2022.



https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MG57HjBxmYI


The MC presented ‘안될놈은(Once unfortunate)’. The correct answer was supposed to be ‘뭘 해도 안 된다(will always be unfortunate).’ ‘안 될 놈은 뭘 해도 안 된다’ is a Korean idiom describing a person who always seems to have bad luck in life.


Yu-jin just answers, ‘안된다(is unfortunate)’ and got it wrong. 


MC continued, ‘같은 값이면 (If two are the same price,)’. The correct answer is supposed to be ‘다홍치마 (get a pink skirt).’


It is an old Korean idiom that means, ‘If one has to spend the same amount of money or effort on two different things, then one surely would choose something of superior quality.’

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