That Number | My Korean Husband

I can’t help myself. It’s funny how much meaning is attached to words because of our cultural background but then can mean nothing to someone else. Even within English, some swear words are seen as worse depending on what country you are from.

Even though I’ve heard this certain Korean swear word, I’ve seen it said in movies and even on occasion heard my husband say it, I can never grasp the real impact of it. He can get very annoyed at me when I deliberately say it.

It goes the other way as well, like when Kpop stars use English swear words. Lately there has been a lot of Kpop stars wearing clothing with very offensive words on them (I’m looking at you Girls’ Generation and GD!) and for a native English speaker it’s like “Why???”

The scenario in the comic has happened more than once because I’m not a native Korean speaker so it’s very difficult for me to differentiate between the swear word and the number. Even if I am really just going through numbers, once I get that reaction from my husband I can’t help but annoy him.

In other news, we’ve been recognised a few times by Koreans in Sydney. Which is so weird! A little while ago a Korean guy who also has an Australian wife recognised my husband in a Korean internet cafe. He drew some fan art about it!

So basically my husband can be recognised just from the comics! Haha! My husband made that face because he is often surprised when he sees a couple similar to us – a Korean guy with Australian girl. Thank you so much for sending me this Han! Go say hello if you see my husband again.

Terri

Does it annoy you when your husband scolds you for swearing? (In Irish, the word ‘focail’, sounds like the English ‘f*ckall’)
It’s really funny that your husband was recognised! X) That’s really awesome
- http://www.mykoreanhusband.com/ Nic
  
  Yeah sometimes… I don’t like being scolded.
dsherpa

i love your blog!!! hope u guys had a great new years!
http://www.facebook.com/ddong.man.96 Ddong Man

Be careful with saying ‘puppy’ as well.
http://www.facebook.com/caitlin.hildebrandt.5 Caitlin Hildebrandt

Haha this reminds me of the comic you did where he was trying to say beach :p
http://www.facebook.com/simpleandtiny Liseth Vazquez

That’s so cute! They noticed your husband ^^
I had Korean class today! We learned number today! haha
http://www.facebook.com/brooke621 Brooke Au

My 선생님 told us that her son (who is half French half Korean) had so much fun pressing the number pads on the mobile phone for which it would read out the numbers. So there was this one time they were visiting Seoul and taking a taxi, he kept hitting 18 18 18 until the taxi driver realized what he’s doing and laughed, yet for my 선생님 she felt a bit ashamed that it’s actually similar to the bad word.
XD

Yet this story did help me with remember the numbers, somehow we all learn the bad words first when we learn a second language, don’t we? =P
http://www.facebook.com/han.song.58 Han Alexander Song

Hahaha That’s my pleasure, Nicola! I’m glad i made you big laugh and my bad comic is posted on your blog! I’ll make sure when i meet your husband, i’ll say hi.
- http://www.mykoreanhusband.com/ Nic
  
  We will meet sometime!
  - http://www.facebook.com/han.song.58 Han Alexander Song
    
    Okay!
http://twitter.com/thereadingchica Meghann

I can’t think of any word in American English that sound similar to curse words. Though, holding your tongue and saying “apples” was always a playground favorite…
- Jess
  
  Oh there are definitely a few. Many languages don’t have the English i sound in bit, but do have the one in beat and these easily get confused. This means that words like beach and b*tch could be confused by someone whose language doesn’t have both i sounds. Same deal for sh*t and sheet. I have had many an ESL break into giggles upon realising this. It did quite motivate them to learn the difference and produce it the best they could (which in at least American and southeastern British English is two fold – different vowels, but also that the sound in beach is longer than the one in b*tch).
  - Jess
    
    ESL class* haha, not just an ESL.
  - http://twitter.com/thereadingchica Meghann
    
    Yeah, I wasn’t thinking about second language mispronunciations. My aunt is from Panama and can’t pronounce b*tch to save her life. LOL
Jason Tankard

hahaha nice work.
maggi

Hey .. I wud also like to share something abt Korean language… I’m an Indian n I love Korean drama … N I also face such things when I watch Korean drama.. n we burst into laughs..

Well, thnx for 18 .. I didn’t know this…b4

N i really enjoy ur blogs.. best luck…
KS OH

하하 재미있게 잘읽었네요
한국인으로써 남편말에 완전 공감하네요 ^^ㅋ

anwy.. i can speak abc english.. ㅜㅜ

i think ..
18 – English pronunciation -> eighteen
18 – Korean pronunciation -> Ship-Pal ( <- swear words that pronounce same but have different meanings )
http://www.facebook.com/ThaisBree Thais Brenda

“So basically my husband can be recognised just from the comics!” hahaha So, the big head he has in the comics true?! I thought it was just a joke to annoy him. ~ just kidding
- http://www.facebook.com/sophie.is.my.full.name Sophie Song
  
  IT’S THE EYES!! When he does the surprised big eye face.. hehe
http://twitter.com/sterff1face Stephanie Moretti

Ahahahha, I love the fan art! That’s so funny that they made that for you ^^
- http://www.mykoreanhusband.com/ Nic
  
  So awesome!
Natalie

Oh my goodness, that is so funny! It’s true your little cartoons are accurate!! LOLOLOL!
http://www.facebook.com/hyejin.choi.5268 최혜진

it`s very funny
- http://www.mykoreanhusband.com/ Nic
  
  hi!