I like this analogy from
The Joshing Gnome, found in
part 3 of his
five part series on the Korean concept of
Jeong, or rather the concept of Koreans making it a Korean concept:
Koreans claim that jung is an untranslatable Korean concept. The reason that Koreans have a difficult time translating jung is that it is, in fact, an alien concept to them. Korean culture draws that ten foot trench between those you care about and those for whom you feel nothing. To feel some affinity for someone on the other side of that trench is jung. And it’s totally outside of the basic bounds of the culture. That’s why jung is such a hard thing for Koreans to explain to you. Because you already feel it all the time. It would be like you explaining buoyancy to a fish. You’s be at such a loss to express the concept that fish would merely nod in wonder when you told them ‘I guess buoyancy is a human concept that you just wouldn’t get.’
3 comments:
beyonce to a fish, eh?
yeah, it'd be hard to explain the word "bootylicious" to a creature that doesn't have legs, much less booties.
Me: "well, we use these things to help us move around, and the spot where those things join our bodies, has lots of muscle, and the muscle takes a certain shape. And sometimes, that shape is considered attractive, but other times it's NOT considered attractive. And some people really think especially large, round attaching-part-muscles are very attractive, and that's what we call bootylicious. Get it?"
Fish: ". . . bubble. . . "
I never would have thought to apply that analogy to one of those 'Who pops it best?' posts that PopSeoul does all the time. Brilliant.
Nothing brilliant, and no higher meaning. I just didn't want to steal your quote outright. Since Lee Hyori is Korea-related, there was an instant tie-in. Had you said "explain flight to a butterfly," I'd have been screwed.
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