[Korean Culture & Language] Squid

Hello, this is Uptempo!


Koreans often refer to someone they don’t find attractive ‘오징어(squid).’ The term first appeared on Cultwo Show, a popular South Korean radio show hosted by Jung Chan-woo and Kim Tae-gyun on SBS Power FM. They usually read stories sent by audiences, and one of the stories a girl sent in was about her feelings toward her boyfriend after watching a movie together. 

The below meme has become popular after the story that she sent got broadcasted:

It reads: “남자친구랑 같이 영화를 보러 갔는데 영화 끝나고 하는 무대인사에 장동건이 나왔어요”

“I went to see a movie with my boyfriend one day, and Jang Dong-gun took a bow at the end of the movie.”

의외로 평범한 느낌이었습니다. 후광이 보인다느니, 눈이 부셔서 눈을 마주칠 수 없다느니… 다들 과장이었네. 그래도 눈 코입 달린 사람 맞네 하고 남자친구를 바라본 순간…

“Many people said that he’s so beautiful that they couldn’t even see him straight and that they saw his halo… He wasn’t as handsome as I had expected. He seemed to be rather average. People were all exaggerating. He had a mouth, a nose, and eyes, just like any other human being. Then when I turned to look at my boyfriend…”

웬 오징어가 팝콘을 우적우적 씹어 먹고 있어요…

“I noticed a squid gobbling his popcorn…”

She was jokingly saying that her boyfriend seemed less attractive after seeing Jang Dong-gun, who is the epitome of Korean “handsome.”

Ex) 

A: 샤워하고 나서 거울 볼 때는 분명히 잘 생겨 보였는데, 여자친구랑 아까 같이 사진 찍으니까 여자친구 옆에 웬 오징어가 있더라.

I looked good in the mirror after taking a shower this morning. But when my girlfriend took a photo of us, I saw a squid standing next to my girlfriend.

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[Korean Culture & Language] Impulsiveness and MBTI

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