My second cultural post will be on Korean idioms and proverbs. This will also be my topic for the cultural presentation.
I personally find idioms and expressions very interesting, fun, and profound. When I was learning about Korean idioms and expressions, it was sometimes difficult for me to translate them into English due to cultural and historical differences between Western countries and Asian countries, like Korea. However, to my surprise, there were many Korean idioms and expressions with a Western/English equivalent.
For example, there's a Korean idiom, "제 눈에 안경이다," which literally translates to glasses in the eyes. This idiom is used to suggest that the way people see beauty is different (glasses we see with are all different). This is somewhat equivalent to the English idiom/saying “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
The Korean idiom of “꿩 먹고 알 먹는다” literally translates to “If you eat a pheasant, you also eat the egg.” This expression is used to describe a situation when you get two benefits at the same time from one action. This is equivalent to the English expression “Kill 2 birds with 1 stone.”
The Korean proverb of “뜻이 있는 곳에 길이 있다” literally translates to “In the place there is a will, there is a way,” which is equivalent to the English expression of “where there’s a will,there’s a way.” Both expressions is used to describe situations where if one is determined, even through hardships and difficulties, they will find a way to achieve their goal.
The Korean proverb of “누워서 떡 먹기” directly translates into “Eating rice cake while laying down.” This expression is extremely similar to the English idiom of “A piece of cake,” which is used to express how easy something is.
Lastly, the Korean proverb,“남의 떡이 커보인다” which directly translates to “another person’s rice cake looks bigger,” is used to describe envy and when people are never satisfied with their own situation and think others have it better. This is very similar to “The grass is always greener on the other side.”
