# I am HORRIBLY EMBARRASSED for my country! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 15, 2000, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723 "2000-12-15T09:16:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/21 "2000-12-15T14:17:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Ooooh, and if you see any Little Bob Dog can coin banks, pick them up for me & I will pay you back. I -heart- Little Bob Dog. Huh??? I never have heard of/seen/smelled/tasted/ or otherwise been exposed to these… but I’ll keep my eye out! If I find one, I’ll buy it… And **Coldfire** , after about 5 years of studying, I exceed your Korean vocabulary by about 4 words… Kia, Ssangyoung, Hyundai (pronounced "Hyun- **day** in Korean, not “Hyun-die”!), and bo-jee (my, ah-hem, favorite female body part!). Korean is fricking HARD for an English speaker!!! ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/22 "2000-12-15T14:25:39Z")
**pyrrho12** , brother I FEEL your pain!!! > [@](#): > > No idea what the bad word translates as; my Korean teacher has a nasty habit of teaching me swear words then refusing to tell me what they mean. Koreans have a word: Chi-sa-han saram, which means something like “really cheesy, cheap-ass, stick it to ya whenever-they-can people.” I often feel this way when they tell me a new word and then refuse to define it! WFT!!! I tell my students all sorts of nasty words, but I do have a limit! And if I taught them a BAD word, I would at least tell them the meaning before telling them not to use it!! _Astro is tired, and going to bed…_ ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/23 "2000-12-15T14:26:41Z")
Damn, I knew Kia and Ssang Young as well! And I even knew how to pronounce Hyundai! Tater, am I half Korean too now? ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/24 "2000-12-15T14:29:30Z")
**Coldfire** you are half Korean in your heart when you can bite into a **nuclear mutant hell-fire** pepper, and smile and say “not so bad”… THAT’S when you are half Korean!! ---
**Author:** ![tatertot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@tatertot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tatertot)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/25 "2000-12-15T14:35:37Z")
I’ve been trying to scan a pic of Little Bob Dog, but I need to reload the software, and I am technically supposed to be in bed right now, so I guess it will have to wait. ☹ Anyhoo, you would like LBD, “Bob’s honesty and unpreteniousness are what make him so popular.” Plus, he is made by the Loving Friend Company of Korea. **Coldy** You are not even close to being half-Korean! First of all, you are not ee-po-dah enough. Second of all, you have a distinctly non-garlic aroma about you (more like herring and onions). Third of all, you have a Hamada Kundingee. And you look like a Kaygoree’s Donkimoe. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/26 "2000-12-15T14:43:47Z")
A Donkimoe??? I’ve never been so insulted in my entire life. You po-kabeezoe. ---
**Author:** ![BF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5ac83/32.png) [@BF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BF)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/27 "2000-12-15T14:59:29Z")
Astro-dude, Your apparent horror over the popularity of Baywatch can be compounded by the fact that from 1994-1998 (approximately), Baywatch was the most watched syndicated show in the WORLD. Now that’s a real eewwwwwwwww… ---
**Author:** ![tatertot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@tatertot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tatertot)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/28 "2000-12-15T15:01:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\* > > I’ve never been so insulted in my entire life. \*\* Kamsahamneedah, Adashi! Du kennst, Ich liebe dich, ja? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/29 "2000-12-15T15:04:14Z")
Du _weißt_ ich liebe dich, meinst du 😃 The feeling is mutual, m’dear. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/30 "2000-12-15T15:08:52Z")
This multi-lingual banter is making my head spin… All I remember from 2 semesters of German is Ich bin krank and Ich bin mude… pretty pathetic, huh?? ---
**Author:** ![tatertot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@tatertot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tatertot)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/31 "2000-12-15T15:13:14Z")
Dangit, I always get Weiss, Kennen und Glauben mixed up. Damn these Germans with their foreign language. No, wait, kennst could be correct…would fit in with your delusions of grandeur. 😉 Und Ich bin krank und mude! Ach! Mein Kopf ist kaput! Ich habe ein Bauchweh! ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/32 "2000-12-15T15:39:03Z")
I heard David Hasselhof on Howard Stern a while ago and Howard asked why he was so popular in Germany. David said that it was mostly luck. Apparently he was known in Germany for singing, but it just so happened that he had a song out that was latched onto when the Berlin Wall came down (I’m imagining something like Lee Greenwood during the Gulf War). ---
**Author:** ![Pyrrho12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b2d939/32.png) [@Pyrrho12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyrrho12)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/33 "2000-12-15T16:06:27Z")
Astroboy, try going to one of those big stationary stores to see Little Bob Dog. I believe that the CNA Total Gift Department Store chain carries LBD merchandise… Tempo definitely has LBD stuff, but those stores are much less common than CNA. Tatertot, are you sure we couldn’t interest you in some Cong-Cong-i instead? She’s much more popular than LBD this year… 🙂 Going to bed. That’s a good idea, Astroboy. It’s past one. I may get a call to come peel garlic in the morning… has your SO’s family ever drafted you into the hateful experience of kimchi making? Good night. ---
**Author:** ![ReservoirDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@ReservoirDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReservoirDog)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/34 "2000-12-15T16:48:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BF \* > \*\*Astro-dude, > Your apparent horror over the popularity of Baywatch can be compounded by the fact that from 1994-1998 (approximately), Baywatch was the most watched syndicated show in the WORLD. Now that’s a real eewwwwwwwww… \*\* The whole world loves boobies!!! In Egypt, about 12 years ago, the only American program I could regularly find on TV was MacGuyver. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/35 "2000-12-15T17:00:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Astroboy14 \* > \*\ ***Coldfire** you are half Korean in your heart when you can bite into a **nuclear mutant hell-fire** pepper, and smile and say “not so bad”… THAT’S when you are half Korean!! \*\* OK. One time my dad travelled to Montserrat to cover a volcano erupting there. On his way back he stopped in Antigua and went shopping in a market there. He was interested in a bottle of hot sauce, but the alarmed proprietress looked at him in astonishment and told him, “That’ll blow the asshole off a white man!” He bought it anyway and took it home. I tried some of it on a burrito and found it somewhat bland. I’m one-eighth Korean on my mother’s side. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2000, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/36 "2000-12-16T00:08:33Z")
**matt\_mcl** , Oddly enough, most Koreans seem to think that westerners don’t like spicy food (completely ignoring the fact that hot peppers were introduced here in the 17th century… by the _Spanish!_ IIRC…)! I can handle _much_ hotter peppers than most of my Korean friends… though I will ocassionally run across one that is more than I bargained for! :eek:! ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2000, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/37 "2000-12-16T00:46:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Astroboy14 \* > [B **The Simpsons!!!** (how does “Mmmmm, beer!” translate into Korean?). > > Dammit!! \*\* The Simpsons is hardly an import in Korea, all the actual animation is drawn in Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2000, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/38 "2000-12-16T01:14:28Z")
> [@](#): > > The Simpsons is hardly an import in Korea, all the actual animation is drawn in Korea. Good point, **Collin** … I didn’t think of that! Ok, update on the naughty word hunt: “yomchee” according to my partner, is similar to “weasel”… still haven’t gotten to the bottom of “shumyunseki” yet… (Fiancee not due back until tonight)… I’ll keep you, uh, _POSTED_! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2000, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/39 "2000-12-16T01:40:19Z")
I think it is safe to say that the Korean-hot food connection is not genetic. I would with a Korean guy who breaks into a sweat from Taco Bell hot sauce (the middle one even, not the hottest one). He was born and raised in Ohio. Environment over genetics on this one, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2000, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723/40 "2000-12-16T03:23:28Z")
I fully agree. My GF is 100% white, born and raised Dutch. But after having worked 4 months in Singapore, she can now down those hot peppers as if they were M&M’s. Meanwhile, I’m reaching for all available liquids to extinguish the flames. It’s definately trainable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-horribly-embarrassed-for-my-country/45723.md?page=3)