Word play in K-dramas

Well, haha. I was really amazed when I first got to know that.

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In case you didn’t already know this, BtoB stands for Born to Beat, and their fans are called “Melody” because melody goes well with (musical) beat. I didn’t know anything about k-pop other than BTS but I learned so much while researching to TE “Kingdom: Legendary War”.

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I’m a Melody and I love the fandom name. It’s so pretty and fitting.
With many k-pop groups nowadays, it must be so difficult to choose a good name for the fans.
I also like Eunkwang’s enthousiasm about his name ‘Silver Light’.

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BtoB is the only k-pop band that I adore. I have always watched K-Dramas but never was interested in K-Pop until I found BtoB’s Shinbaram. I went on to discover so much more about them. Their fan colour “Slow Blue” also happens to be my favourite colour. Another thing about them to like is that they don’t sexualize their bandmates (like slapping butts or random kisses in concerts) to gain extra fans.
Eagerly waiting for their next album :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

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When I was asked to TE “Kingdom: Legendary War”, I wasn’t too enthused at first but by the time the show concluded, my interest and respect for the artists had grown greatly.

I can now honestly say that I am a BtoB fan and I am glad that they don’t provide “fan service” by sexualizing their bandmates.

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The Korean title for this show is 별똥별 (byeol-ttong-byeol) which means “shooting star”. When taken separately, 별 means “star” and 똥 means “poop”, “crap” or “shit”. So the title, “Sh**ting Stars”, is again playing with the word 똥.

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Hahahaha! :rofl: :stars: poop! :joy: :poop: :rofl:

I was wondering about this!! I saw the Soompi article about it, and the poster had a big tagline that read:
image
Made me get excited to watch the drama lol

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choitrio
The Korean title for this show is 별똥별 (byeol-ttong-byeol) which means “shooting star”. When taken separately, 별 means “star” and 똥 means “poop”, “crap” or “shit”. So the title, “Sh**ting Stars”, is again playing with the word 똥.

This is so interesting to know about word play in K-dramas, and I’m so grateful you share all this details with us. I really wished there were more people like you that give so much useful information. and in the process we can learn about the Korean language. Thank you so much!

PS. I learned now not to take chances using words without knowing the real context in FULL detail. This is going in my notes.

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You are very welcome. Unfortunately, not many Kor-Eng subbers visit the Community Discussions, probably because they are busy creating or editing subtitles for the benefit of our viewers. I just happen to really enjoy interacting with community members and if I can provide some useful information then it’s an added bonus.:blush:

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@choitrio

Can’t you invite them to this forum with a messaged link? If we had here more ppl. like you/them giving us precious input on your/their knowledge of the Korean language, we could finally learn a bit more of what I consider the most difficult language to learn.

I think this will also give them a place to relax for a bit since I know for experience how draining editing in any given language can be. They deserve to be praised too, and viewers rarely do that in the reviews/comment section. I feel in here it’s easier to express those things like compliments and such.

Although I have criticized some subtitles subber’s wrote in dramas, I only do it to get their attention, and hopefully PUSH them to improve them bc we all have room for improvement if we only try. I have also never accused anyone directly or without the evidence (image), so they don’t feel I’m just doing it to be ‘‘mean?’’ I would rather write the ‘‘B’’ word bc I know that’s how some ppl. see me here. But they only see me that way bc is easier to live in denial than accepting the truth.

That is exactly what I had hoped for when I first created this thread, a place to learn from each other, exchange information, and get to know each other better. Unfortunately, there is not much interaction among Kor-Eng subbers even within the subtitle teams and the few that I have reached out and tried to keep in touch are no longer active at Viki.

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I finished watching “My Strange Hero” just because I like Yoo Seung Ho, lol. Similar to “Military Prosecutor Doberman”, the names of the ML and FL are used for wordplay in the show.

The ML for “My Strange Hero” is Kang Bok Su and the FL is Son Soo Jeong. In couple of scenes, the ML quotes famous sayings from S Crystal and K Revenge. Well, “crystal” in Korean is “soojeong” and “revenge” in Korean is “boksu”. Pretty clever.:wink:

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I am looking forward to the show as well. There is one more thing about the poster. Although 별 means “star”, 별별 does not mean “starry” as Google translate will make you think. 별별 actually means “all kinds”. Another wordplay, I guess.

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Lol… This reminds me of Ryan Gold from Her Private Life… the hangul was 라이언, same as “Lion” :laughing:

A variety show episode name: “Mystery Mister Lee” “미스터리미스터리”

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In “Kiss Goblin”, the ML’s name is Ban Sook. It is rather fitting for a goblin who is learning to become human since 반숙 (bansook) literally means “half-cooked”.

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:joy::joy::joy: This is so funny! I like word play in kdramas!

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Koreans seem to be constantly (re)inventing words. You may have already seen or heard some of these:

빵셔틀 (ppang shuttle) = 빵 + shuttle = errand person to get bread or bakery items
남사친 (nam-sa-chin) = 남자 사람 친구 = male friend
여사친 (yeo-sa-chin) = 여자 사람 친구 = female friend
셀카 (sel-ka) = self camera = selfie
사바사 (sa-ba-sa) = 사람 by 사람 = person by person, referring how situation differs from person to person
단짠 (dan-jjan) = 달고 짠 맛 = sweet and salty taste, can be used for food or situation

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Can anyone guess what 샵쥐 (♯G) means? By the way, the symbol is not the number or hash sign, but rather a musical sign, sharp. This is another unusual reinvention of a Korean term, kind of like “latte is horse”.

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Sharp G? No clue what that would mean, though.

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