# Are these actual korean sayings?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-actual-korean-sayings/750497>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 29, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-actual-korean-sayings/750497 "2016-03-29T01:47:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-actual-korean-sayings/750497/1 "2016-03-29T01:47:02Z")

</div>

An episode of QI included several sayings that are supposedly used in Korean. Can anybody tell me if these are (or were) actual sayings used in Korea?

[ul]  
[li]“You wouldn’t notice even if a friend at the same table died.” = the food was delicious[/li][li]“He disappeared like a fart through hemp pyjamas.” = his departure was awkward[/li]  
[li]“My eyebrows are on fire.” = I’m in a desperate situation[/li][/ul]

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-actual-korean-sayings/750497/2 "2016-03-29T03:16:29Z")

</div>

Yes. Definitely,the first and third one. Can’t confirm the middle one, but it sounds like something an older Korean might say.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-actual-korean-sayings/750497/3 "2016-03-29T20:34:12Z")

</div>

Are they slightly more poetic in Korean?

Google translate renders the “you wouldn’t notice …” one as  
“dangsin-eun gat-eun teibeul-e chinguga jug-eoss-eul gyeong-uedo nunchi chaeji moshal geolago” which sounds like quite a mouthful for even an eloquent compliment. (I strongly suspect that’s a mangled translation. Sayings and idioms rarely translate well.)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Enilno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58f4c7/32.png) [@Enilno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enilno)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-actual-korean-sayings/750497/4 "2016-03-29T20:55:02Z")

</div>

The first two are both listed in “Looking for a Mr. Kim in Seoul: A Guide to Korean Expressions” by Sang-Hun Choe and Christopher Torchia.

According to the Googlebooks preview, “You wouldn’t notice even if a friend at the same table died.” is rendered as:  
Turi mŏktaga hana chugŏdo morŭnda. 둘이 먹다가 하나 죽어도 모른다.