Honey legs and chocolate abs...

(I thought the literal translation of 꿀벅지 would be "honey thighs" or "nectarous femurs" or something along these variations... all them sweet legs)

Apparently, one of the girls from the oh so many girl groups in the Korean pop music industry is often called "honey legs" because her upper leg portions look... delectable. ... I don't see what's so special about her legs, but then again, I normally don't notice things like that. (Do think that she looks cute, but that's mainly because her face resembles that of a cat...)

When I first saw the explanation that the phrase alludes to the uncouth desire to lick that body part so close to the private quarters, I did cringe a bit. Did think that it was vulgar and gross, and felt a bit sorry for the cute little girl whose legs were so openly coveted by her fans(?). Then again I guess she (or at least her boss) might enjoy the extra attention.

However, at the same time, I was also amazed at the novelty of the expression. It sounds rather creative.

Then I also encountered its apparent counterpart, "chocolate abs," referring to those hard, chiseled six-packs that you can appreciate in the boy groups of the same industry. (I guess movies like "300" and "Troy" display many of them, too, but again, I did not notice when I was watching. I guess I'm more interested in hair than muscle.)

Here, the more popular explanation seems to be the one that attributes the phrase to the shape of chocolate bars rather than the taste of them, meaning that it is not as sexually explicit as "honey legs." But I guess chocolate and honey both being sweet eatable things, some people may consider the two phrases the same. Not my concern.

I was just merely awed by the fact that people come up with such ingenuous expressions, though some of them can make you uncomfortable. Too much information.


Another area where I find such creative new uses of words is the world of cat lovers. Now, in English, we have lolcats. I can has cheezburger. They are even rewriting the Bible in lolcat style. They are my bag of weed. Seriously.

Korean cat lovers, on the other hand, have come up with their own word-meaning associations used for describing cats and other cat-related things that shows how leet their love for their cats are.

Tuxedo/cow (black and white), socks (paws colored differently from the body), sweet rice buns (white paws), baking bread (sitting with front paws tucked in), lap cat (sits/sleeps on your lap), potatoes (urine+sand), and various onomatopoeia to refer to some typical behaviors that cats show. So cute. Cheesy? Yes, but still, cute.
Even death is euphemized by the expression, "crossing the rainbow bridge."
Such imagination, such insight to find similar imageries! Something I can't do very well because I'm usually stuck with the dictionary definitions of words. I don't deviate very well from well established conventions. I'm too chicken for that.


Ah well.
To each his/her own.

My job, my arse.

I forget the exact context of this conversation, but I was explaining to my husband that the word jigjarng in Korean means "job." To be more precise, it is the place where you work. As I explained it to him, I remembered the less frequent meaning of this word, as it is a homonym if written in Korean. I explained that it is the last part of the intestines, the rectum. He kinda chuckled, and added, "That makes sense."

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

Seriously, I don't get apologies. I don't really know what they really mean.

Korean: Mian* literally would mean "not in peace," so I guess it means my mind/heart is not in peace because of whatever I have done.

Jeusong* seems to mean "embarrassed because of a sin," admitting that I have committed something that makes me feel embarrassed.

English: Sorry. Adjectival form of sorrow, perhaps? I don't quite grasp when it is appropriate to say "I'm sorry" and when it is not. Some times you say it when you did something wrong, but then other times you also say it when someone else is going through a hard time. So a component of sympathy there, but doesn't it kinda sound like it is my fault that that person's in misery? That's why, when my hubby complains about having a bad day and I say to him, "I'm sorry to hear that," he replies, "It's not your fault." ..so confusing.

Apology. Though now it seems to refer mostly to certain speech or gesture that expresses acknowledgment of one's fault, shame, and regret, the origin of the word is more like an explanation, excuse, or justification. Not exactly what I would want to hear if somebody wronged me. I don't care why you did it!!! I'm angry that you did it!!! You'd better show some respect for MY feelings!!! ...I guess in the process of expressing regret, explaining how it happened, how it wasn't intentional, etc., may play a part in reconciling the parties involved, but.. the most important thing would be for the culprit to admit that s/he did something wrong, not try to justify his/her actions.

Spanish: Lo siento. "I feel it." I feel what?! Feelings of remorse, regret, repentance? Lo siento mucho.

Sometimes you just skip the admitting part and jump to asking for forgiveness. Perdón, or perdóname seems to be used more than forgive me but I don't know. Haven't been in a Spanish speaking environment for a while. Then there are uses where it seems more like a polite excuse me so it's literal meaning seems too strong.

German: Don't remember enough to really differentiate between Entschuldigung and tut mir Leid. Tut mir Leid kinda feels like me da pena for some reason though.


I kinda get the impression that saying sorry involves a wide spectrum of emotions including shame, embarrassment, regret, remorse, but often is also just used as a polite gesture without any meaning. I know I have used it so. Sometimes I feel bad about it, but I'm self-centered like that. Too busy with my own business.

I guess I sometimes get angry at people who just simply say "sorry" when they offend me somehow and resume the offense.. often by not changing what they do. Then they didn't mean that. They just said it to be polite, but they aren't really "sorry." I guess there is no reason for them to be considerate to me, but to maintain a polite facade while continuing the offense... argh. I guess I'm just too sensitive about things like that. Like I deserve only honesty. Like I'm not a hypocrite.

Still.
Sorry is one of the hardest words for me.

Hebrew baby names?

Yesterday was the last day to use our coupon from the Half-Priced Bookstore, so we went there after dinner. They had some clearance books outside the store, and we looked through them before we went in. I found a coffee table book of cats for $3. My husband found a book of baby names in Hebrew.

Since I normally throw possible future baby names at my husband every now and then, he proceeded to randomly pick a page and throw a name to me this time. It happened to be "Matar," meaning "rain." When he pronounced it, I just thought it sounded funny, but when I saw the spelling in the page, my reaction was, "to kill?" His response: "Your Mom would love it!"

Yes, my mother is a religious nut and does occasionally express her suspicion that my husband is a Satan-worshiper and has me corrupted with his dark nature and (to our dismay) attempts to rescue me from my sinful life. To name our child something that means "to kill" in Spanish may convince her that we really are burning in hell, but we could then just show her this book and get away with it!

Nah, not worth it.