Legend of the Blue Sea subs need an update lol
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Man won 
I know what they mean, but still
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imagine someone who doesn’t know Korean at all reading that! 
Man? Which man won?
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I think there was a momentary brain fart or the subber forgot to “switch” from Korean mode (900 man won) to English mode (9 million won) as s/he translates. It can happen.
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Another machine translation that went awry.
Should be: I will never be able to get ahead.
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Actually, it was done this way on purpose.
The dog’s name is Goobaek, which means 900 in Korean, because he/she (can’t remember who was speaking) spends 9,000,000 won a month on the dog. But the problem is, the way Koreans read 9,000,000 won is not “nine millions,” but “nine hundred-ten thousand” won. So that’s where the number 900 (the dog’s name) came from.
It’s actually really tricky to translate Korean money/numbers because Koreans don’t separate numbers by every three digits (like 1000, 10,000, 100,000, 1,000,000 etc.) but by 4 (like 10000, 10,0000, 100,0000).
So if we just translate it as 9,000,000 won, then it wouldn’t make sense why he would name the dog 900.
Having said that, now that I look at it this way, I can why it sounds wrong and confusing to non-Koreans.
Since I was one of the translation editors, I can try to change it to make it better.
How about “My dog’s name is Goo baek (900 in Korean), because I spend goo-baek-man won ($9000) on him a month.”
@vivi_1485
Can you tell me the episode number and timing for this?
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Doesn’t this still include the word ‘man’ which can be confusing for people unfamiliar with Korean? I was thinking maybe: My dog’s name is Goo baek (900 in Korean), because I spend 10 times 900 dollar on him a month.”
This keeps the 900 in the English subtitle, but maybe it looks too strange.
Another less literal, less funny translation could be simply: ‘My dog’s name is Goo Baek (900 in Korean), because I spend a lot of money on him each month’.
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Ah, I see. I didn’t watch this drama, so I don’t know the plot of it.
This makes sense.
I know. It works the same way with Chinese yuan, too. Or the way Chinese monetary units are counted or written.
True. I agree.
Just reading the subtitle sentence posted by @vivi_1485, it wasn’t confusing. At least to me. However, it was quite funny. No offense meant to anyone on the team, here or elsewhere.
Now I really have to find time to watch this drama. I’m sure it’s good, and well-TE’d. 
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This is similar to what came to my mind: “My dog’s name is Goo Baek (900 in Korean), because I spend that much on him each month.” As you said, it’s less literal, but it gets the point across, because even if an American English speaker reads this sentence and is thinking in dollars, 900 dollars a month is a LOT to spend on one’s dog. I don’t know how much might get lost in translation to other languages from that point, but it’s an idea that seems a little less cumbersome.
That being said, the suggestion by @ajumma2 that uses a hyphenated variation seems the easiest way if one wants to keep a more literal translation.
This seems to take away some of the confusion that might come with the use of the word ‘man’, especially when accompanied by a monetary amount in parentheses.
I had no idea numbers were written in the way described. It’s so interesting to learn these new things all the time.
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This sounds much better. It retains the “Korean literary flavor” that the author/screenwriter intended.
@oriya @my_happy_place
The less literal translation works. However, IMO, it has lost its “Korean literary flavor” which I believe was the author/screenwriter’s intention.
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Sometimes it is choice of words/idioms
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Hi @anthonyparker80_342!!
Nice to see you out online!
On all three, my lol 
tears are flowing! That last one I’ll give you the thread, it’ll go with nicely. 
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Thank you all for your feedback. As you probably already know, sometimes there’s no perfectly right translation and each variation has its own merits and deficiencies. That’s why someone said translation is not an exact science, but a form of art. It’s also the reason that every subber will translate any given sentence slightly differently, unless if it’s something really simple, like “hi,” or “thank you.”
10,000 (“man”) is actually pronounced more like “mahn” with the long “ah” sound.
Creative, but a bit unconventional. 
This is a way “professional” translators typically do it. Netflix translators and other movie translators usually do it this way to simply convey the meaning, and not bother with Korean word play or cultural implications. It’s not wrong to do it this way. But we at Viki typically try to keep and explain “Korean-ness” more since Viki users seem to be more interested in learning Korean language and culture.
See? If we had just translated it as “too much money,” then this discussion would not have come up and you would never have learned how our numbering system works. 
This is another reason why we want to keep the Korean way in this case, because other languages, such as Chinese may be able to translate it more accurately in their language. If we had just said, “because I spend too much money on him,” then Chinese subbers would have lost an opportunity to accurately translate this particular sentence.
Aww, thanks, jc! That’s so sweet of you to say that. The drama itself wasn’t spectacular, but it’s watchable enough, and hopefully the rest of the translation is good. Please let me know if you do find any translations that may not be clear, if you do decide to watch.
Ok, how about this then?
“My dog’s name is Goo Baek (900 in Korean), because I spend goo-baek-mahn won ($9000) on him each month.”
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Bravo! 
Perfection! I’m still learning too! The correct romanization is key!
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Ooh this is perfect! I actually wouldn’t have noticed it if I was watching alone but my brother was all “Man? Which man?”
I’ll have to search for timing because i was binge watching 
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This is precisely why I believe it may be beneficial for an English editor to not know Korean. Since my brain had already processed that sentence in Korean, the original English subtitle didn’t seem weird to me at all at that time, and that “man won” was simply 만원 (10,000) and nothing more. It didn’t occur to me some viewers may think of some man winning some money! lol
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I would like to suggest, too. Not sure if it would make sense to non-native speakers.
My dog’s name is Goo Baek (900 in Korean), because I spend goo baek thousand won ($9000) on him each month.
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No, “man” is 10,000 - not 1000
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