My understanding from the above is that they use “sharing love” to convey that.
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So Korean couples would say
But it can be interpreted differently with the context, “from attention to care.” It doesn’t necessarily imply having sex. There could be ambiguity for the act then, but not for the love feelings.
- What else can “sarangul nanuda” mean? In what other situations? It is difficult to translate it literally in French (share love) without a context to grasp the meaning because the literal translation leaves me no clue xd
Well, yes, because in French “shared love” means loving someone who also loves you back, as opposed to one-sided love.
Aimer, être aimé, connaître les joies d’un amour partagé et le bonheur d’une union intime et tendre, c’est le vœu de la nature et l’irrésistible penchant de tout mortel.
Rodolphe Töpffer : La traversée (1837)
Les soins, c’est de l’amour qui se partage ; ce sont des caresses discrètes, c’est une partie du culte.
Anne Barratin : De vous à moi (1892)
L’amour est le plus ancien et le meilleur des socialistes ; son mot d’ordre de l’avant-veille, du jour et du surlendemain fût, est et sera toujours, égalité, partage et dévouement.
Auguste Guyard : Quintessences (1847)
_L’amour partagé est le plus grand des sacrifices de soi.
Natalie Clifford Barney : Les traits et portraits (1963)
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I thought it was shared love that could be like in a love triangle or loving 2 people at the same time or 3 people in the same relationship 
or even more for harem or in the past with many wives.
(Could it also be “share love” in a religious way or like the quote of the day?)
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I guess in that case it’s not “sharing the love”, but “sharing the partner”. I suppose the Koreans just refer to “sharing love” (equally or not) between two partners.
You mean like a Korean equivalent of “Make love, not war”?
Like “spread love”?
Share love is not clear in my mind xd
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Very true. I was shocked to find out they don’t teach sexual education in school (I don’t know if this is still the case, my friends are 23+ years old). My single female Korean friends often asked me questions of a sexual nature, because they hadn’t learned about it and are too embarrassed to ask anyone who is Korean. I’ve had sexual education every year, since I was 11, so it was odd to me. We even had some police come to our school to explain what happens when you haven’t given or received consent from someone and the emotional damage that can have.
I remember the mentality that shocked me the most from my Korean friends was the idea that you can’t get pregnant during your “first time”. And I didn’t hear that from just one person, but multiple.
Sorry, not really on topic of the language discussion.
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So they don’t have any sexual content in biology about humans? That’s weird for a high tech country.
How is it in Japan, China, USA?
What should the meaning of Spread Love be? For me it always had a context of being nice to people not sleeping around.
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If I remember correctly, they said that they got a basic lesson, but didn’t learn much. For example, one of the girls had no idea how morning after-pills worked.
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From my understanding of it, “to share love” as in 사랑을 나누다 (sarangul nanuda) is not about spreading love but about the idea of giving and receiving in a relationship. Which is why it includes the sexual aspect, which is an exchange of love between the two people in the relationship.
When I say:
I actually mean that it’s not only sexual, as would “to have sex” be, but encompasses more the entirety of a relationship, mutual feelings, affection and acts of caring included. As in “to make love” in English: it is a sexual act but on a whole different level from just “to have sex”, like you said:
So, 사랑을 나누다 (sarangul nanuda) is often the sexual act but in a “making love” sense, with the idea of a mutual exchange of affection. “To exchange acts of affection” in English can be interpreted either as “making love” or as a non-sexual behaviour such as giving a gift to a friend, but I think that because the English language is much more open about clear mentions of sex, using such expression to talk about making love seems like going a roundabout way, like a dated expression that you would only expect to find in poetry or victorian literature. But in a society where you don’t talk about making love as freely and directly, such expression is more likely to often pertain to the sexual deed. (in French I guess it could be like “se donner de l’affection l’un l’autre” ? )
I don’t know how to explain my thoughts clearly, it’s a bit difficult to grasp. The idea is that an expression that is regarded as extremely ambiguous and mild in English or French culture, where sex is less of a taboo, can be more easily taken in its second, more “crude” sense in a culture where you generally don’t use the more direct expression.
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Yes, “to spread love” is generally used to mean showing kindness around you. In Korean, maybe it could be translated to “사랑을 퍼뜨리다” (not sure about that one).
I guess sometimes people can also use “to spread love” in a sarcastic way to talk about someone who sleeps around, but that would be in a very specific context and is not the original meaning.
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I don’t know about their sexual education in schools, but according to my Korean friend, who lives in Japan, Japan is very liberated when it comes to sexuality, to the point that everything is acceptable, including pedophilia.
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Every year? Wow, we had it only once in school, as part of our highschool biology lectures. Quite thoroughly, it lasted several weeks or so, but was never repeated. And as far as I remember there was no special attention for sexual violence and definately no police at school. I’m glad to hear they did pay attention to that part, though.
Thank you very much for the explanation! It is really interesting!
I think I got it:
-
we can also use 사랑을 나누다 (sarangul nanuda) when talking to a child, parent or friend; not only to a lover.
(I hope I won’t say anything wrong to them here XD) -
there is no unique and dedicated equivalent for “making love” in Korean, contrary to French.
(“sarangul nanuda” could either mean “making love” or something else related to caring and affection. The same expression can mean something else).
–
We use a literal translation of “making love” in French in everyday life.
That expression, I’d use it only when I am sure both partners are lovers (they know their feelings for each other and are a couple).
I think we can still use the literal expression of “making love” in French for the Victorian era (1837-1901), because some authors used it around the French Revolution period (1789).
Otherwise, we can use metaphors like “share the same bed” or “sleep together,” it’s less explicit though.
When English expressions have the same equivalent expressions in French like “making love” (same unique meaning and no ambiguity), I am quite happy XD
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That explains all the anime and manga including incest in a non-critical way (and also the many abusive sexual aspects in many stories in a way I’ve only noticed it in Japanese anime/manga).
@ sexual education lessons at school
I think it changed a bit during the past time in Europe, also with aspects like bullying at school (so it depends when someone went to school here). We had few lessons at grammar school including a visit from a police officer who was talking about sexual abuse of children and that they should talk to teachers to get help (one of the class mates had a breakdown after that).
In high school we mainly had the aspect of how to not get pregnant and avoid HIV. It was never about asking for permission so I could say rape, sexual abuse/harassment was never a topic during class at high school/for teens and it was as if sexual abuse could only happen to little kids but never to teens or students or even adults…
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Yup, last year of elementary and during vwo in biology and after that during a social class. Our principle really cared about the subject, so we got it every year, sometimes with a lesson about different drugs and what drug use can do to you attached to it.
I remember that they split up the police officers. Some would talk about drugs, some about sexual abuse.
They talked to us in smaller groups as well and I remember an officer telling us about the worst case of sexual abuse he’d ever encountered, and honestly it was a shock to us to hear some of the details of that case (the girl was really really young).
@sonmachinima yup, that’s also what they focused on. How not to get STDs, how not to get pregnant, teaching everyone how to put condoms on and different types of birth control, etc. I wished they talked a bit more on consent though, because honestly, there are different ways to pressure someone into doing something they aren’t ready for.
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I suddenly have to think of a documentary series I saw years ago:
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I have a question, watching K-drama Nevertheless. And headcharacter Na-Bo’s friends ask her, if she dates someone because her skin is glowing, whereas she answers “I’ve been sleeping well”. Her friends suddenly freezes and get quiet.
One friend looks at Jeo-eun, the boy Na-bi is secretly dating. Na-bi panics and continues with “I’ve been getting a lot of sleep”, while doing the hand sign as someone going to sleep. And everyone is like “ so you mean sleep, we get it now.”
Is her words in Korean related to if she’s said “I’ve been having sex“ or sth. Or could she had said “did you sleep well” to Jeo-eun in front of everyone, and then meant that she herself has gotten good sleep. Like a slip-up.
Netflix, Episode 4, 23min in. If anyone like to help. Because the English titles just say “I’ve been sleeping well.” And “I’ve getting a lot of sleep”. Which has the same meaning for English speakers. Same in Swedish translation where I come from.
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josefin_agnekrans_64 while doing the hand sign as someone going to sleep. And everyone is like “ so you mean sleep, we get it now.” Is her words in Korean related to if she’s said “I’ve been having sex“ or sth.
I have seen that comment a lot lately in Korean dramas/movies, and like you said here, it’s related to them having sex. But in some drama’s scenes the girls do misinterpret what they’re saying, and the (character) didn’t really mean that, but the fact that she did actually had a good night sleep. I didn’t watched NEVERTHELESS so I can’t say she meant that.