Why do triangles have a negative connotation in Korean culture?
Because they prefer wind instruments?
Uh…What are you talking about?
Uh … he’s talking about what he said, dummy. Do a google search on “korea triangles negative.” Tons of pages tell you not to use triangles in business presentations in Korea, because they have a negative connotation. It’s a good question, and I await a good answer.
Well? You’ve done the googling, why can’t YOU come up with the answer instead of sitting there waiting?
Sheesh.
:rolleyes:
You know what’s funny? The sites that mentioned triangles as being bad are all about business presentation tips. None of them provide any information about where this belief comes from. Not only that, but they all seem to be getting their info from the same place…
www.j2mediagroup.com/international.htm
www.worldtravelinstitute.com/know.htm
www.nal.usda.gov/atmic/news/vign9702.htm
[www.ourbrisbane.com/.../howtoplanabusinesstrip.htm](www.ourbrisbane.com/business/taxlegalcentre/businesstools/ financeadmin/howtoplanabusinesstrip.htm)
www.eximlist.com/info/traveltips.htm
www.egsa.org/powerline/past/MA98cultural.htm
etc…
All the sites above contain the almost exact text:
Apparently, the source of this info is STAT-USA, a service of the U.S. Dpt. of Commerce.
I had never heard anything about triangles being unlucky, so I did try to Google more in depth. However, searching in English only yields sites that parrot the info above, while a Japanese search taught me that triangular onigiri have hit the Korean markets and not much more…
Well, after living in Korea for the past seven years I figured that I must know Koreans pretty well… but I’ve never heard that triamgles are a no-no!
So I called Astrogirl over. She’s my expert on all things Korean (she is Korean, after all), I explained to her what the phrase “negative shape” meant, and she affirms that she has never heard of this, either.
Hmm… can’t say anything about Hong Kong or Taiwan, but it appears to me that in regards to Korea, this is mistaken.
I would really laugh if this turned out to be an UL invented by Korean businesspeople to confuse and confound their western counterparts…
The Korean taboo on triangles must explain why the North hasn’t bothered to finish this gigantic triangular hotel. Yeah, that must be the reason.
I’m with Astroboy on this. I didn’t see any negative connotations to samgagchi (triangle). Heck, there’s even an area of the city called that!
Some of the links I checked out mentioned this being more common in South Korea. I might even email the Korean embassy about this one.
If this is a myth, then it’s a great demonstration of how misinformation about other cultures gains credibility (one of the sites disseminating this information was an airline giving advice to business travellers).
Part of the city is named Triangle? Do you have a Square too? Or just Blocks? 
There’s a traffic roundabout of sorts in Yong San that’s basically a triangle instead of a circle, and it’s elevated. Imaginatively named “Triangle” and when you tell a taxi driver “Samgagchi,” he takes you there.
I have no idea… But this reminds me of a Dilbert
PHB goes to Japan to learn ways to increase productivity. Comes back and makes everyone dress up in large suits as their favorite animal because he says while in Japan the people there told him that it was good for productivity.
Panel of people in Japan laughing hystarically saying “Remember when we told them to dress up as their favorite animals?! HAHAHA!!!”
Now back to your regularly scheduled thread.
As a korean, I’ve never heard of this. Admittedly, i know very little about the business world of korea. Maybe it’s a korean businessman thing.
Sounds like a feng-shui thing. Sharp points are considered unlucky in designs (eg architecture) because they remind people of daggers. Here in HK, if people have a view of a pyramid-shape building feature out of the window, and they feel they are being “pointed at”, they rig up a little miniature water fountain on their desk, to counteract the bad influence.
(Feng-shui is for morons, btw - but a good use for it is discussed here, under the entry for March 18…
www.geocities.com/hkhemlock/diary-23mar02.html )
Beggin’ yer pardon, Hemlock, but,
From the Vietnamese Constitution (bolding below is mine and does not appear on the site) as it appears on the website of the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Washington, DC (http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org/learn/gov-constitution5.php3)
So, exactly how many people got a huge chunk of money for the illegal stunt so gleefully described in that link? (For those who didn’t check the link: someone decided to fire everyone who believed in Feng Shui.)
Pssst… Monty… How closely did you examine Hemlock’s site?
(That’s self-described.) This is attributed to a reader:
Do you get your back up over the Bastard Operator From Hell’s regular abuses, too?
I think Monty would need to show that Feng Shui was a religion before getting any mileage out of this.
Pssst, Larry…Pull your head out and check where the journal said the event occurred in an area of Saigon. As to the BOFH site: never been there.
You too, Desmo. You’ll notice that the VN constitution clearly says “belief or religion.” Don’t have to prove it’s a religion as it’s clearly a belief.