Korean Words – Are Koreans Cannibals?

”I have eaten my heart/mind”

This was one of the lines said by Kim Goeun in Kdrama Goblin,

translated from “마음 먹었어요”.

마음 means heart or mind in English

while 먹었어요 literally means “have eaten”.

But of course, no human eats his/her own heart.

Koreans like to highlight their abstract thoughts by using words from visible actions.

Hence, to “eat one’s heart/mind” means to make a determination, to have made up one’s mind.

Other expressions include “to eat friend” (친구 먹었어요) which means to befriend.

When you eat something, it goes inside your body and be part of yourself.

Same for making a friend, when you befriend someone, she/he becomes very close to you and be part of your life.

“나이(age)  먹었어요”, you eat age, you gain in age and you become older.

If you study Korean deeply, you will learn a lot of “eating” in the language.

Read also

• 10 Korean words related to foods
• Korean words related to ‘entry’ – Chinese letter 入 – 입
• Things to know before travelling to Korea
• Why you should learn the Korean Language?
• How to Study TOPIK in SEOUL Korean Language Centre

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