Thursday, October 7, 2010

영어 Hint of the Day #13 영어로 "한잔" 있어요? 네 근데 다른 말이 있음.

In Korean, "한잔" has a particular meaning.  Strictly speaking, it translates to "one glass (cup)."  Of course, ths is wrong and it highlights the very different cultures.  Given the fact that there is 눈치 in Korea, and you are obligated to drink if offered by your boss or elder, "한잔" in Korean means, in English, "went drinking."  The implied meaning may (or may not) be that you got drunk.

In English, there is the option of drinking to the point of drunkedness, or not.  If you are speaking English, I had "one glass" of wine means exactly that, without the nuance of drunkedness.  Why does this exist?  It exists because it is more acceptable to just have one or two bottles of beer, or wine, and then stop, even when there are superiors.  Since that is the case, you can say in English, "I had a beer with a friend," and it does not necessarily mean that you were up late drinking.  It may been the case that you had one glass of wine, and then went home.

As you probably well know, in Korea, that is almost never the case.

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