Late night KakaoTalk with the much-missed 김혜연 쌤:
D: 선생님은요? 재미있는 얘기 없나요?
KHY: 시험과 발표의 연속. 재미있죠?
D: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ재미있죠.
KHY: 하루하루가 스릴 넘쳐요…….하하하.
—
D: What about you? Any fun stories?
KHY: Consecutive test and presentation. Isn’t it fun?
D: Hahahaha. Yes, of course.
KHY: Yes, every day is just spine tingling. Haha.
I have had many a conversation with a Korean, but this is the first time anyone I’ve ever heard anyone actively employ sarcasm. My Korean friends seem to have no trouble with the concept of sarcasm when they speak in English, but for some reason, it’s just rarely used in Korean.
15 minutes later, I’m still laughing. Best part about this whole thing is that even though KakaoTalk doesn’t convey emotion well, I can totally see her deadpanning this whole exchange. Jesus, I miss you, KHY Ssaem.
October 22, 2011 at 5:13 am
[...] 2 – Consider this quick observation about sarcasm [...]
October 22, 2011 at 6:19 am
Haha, I DID see that! I thought it was absolutely hilarious and really well done. I sent it to one of my professors (whose focus is ancient Korea and Northeast Asia) and he loved it as well.
November 3, 2011 at 1:32 am
Glad to hear it! Make sure to check out this great article on it too: http://japanfocus.org/-Rumi-SAKAMOTO/3629
p.s. While I’m here, let me just say I love your blog. Sorry for not commenting much earlier!
October 24, 2011 at 10:43 pm
That’s so interesting that sarcasm isn’t really used in Korean too often! I had a Korean friend who was very sarcastic, but granted we always talked in English :)
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