Joo.K Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 Let’s talk about a Korean song; “Gangnam Style”. I think many people already know about the song; Gangnam Style. The singer is PSY who is known well for a funny music video and dancing. We can learn about new Korean words through reading his song. First, I think you wonder about the Gangnam, which sounds very smooth. It’s a name of a location in South Korea. There are lots of high buildings, large chain stores, major companies, and fancy restaurants in Gangnam. Every price is very high in Gangnam, so the rich live in the area. People think PSY looks so funny because he doesn't look like a person who lives in Gangnam. Now let’s look at the lyric and learn some important Korean words. Gangnam style 강남 스타일A girl who is warm and humanly during the day 낮에는 따사로운 인간적인 여자 - The word 따사로운(DDa Sa Ro Wu-n) means warm. This word has two different meanings. one is warm weather, the other one is a person who is warm. e.g, the weather is so warm (날씨가 따뜻하네요) / She is so warm (그녀는 참 따뜻한 사람이예요) A classy girl who knows how to enjoy the freedom of a cup of coffee 커피 한잔의 여유를 아는 품격 있는 여자 - The word 커피(Coffee) has same pronunciation with English word. I think it is easy for you to remember the pronunciation.A girl whose heart gets hotter when night comes 밤이 오면 심장이 뜨거워지는 여자 - The word 심장(Sim Jang) means heart and 밤(Bam) means night. However, the the word 밤 also have two meanings. one is night and the other one is a fruit's name. < you can see pictures of the fruit called 밤(Bam) by clicking this link : https://www.google.co.kr/search?q=%EB%A8%B9%EB%8A%94+%EB%B0%A4&newwindow=1&espv=210&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=pg_QUoTVHMOCiQe7oIDoAQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=666#facrc=_&imgrc=LA_9ZfUlRQNgTM%253A%3BGS1auuSKWhL8DM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwrn.kr%252Fshop%252Fpic_prod_small%252Fchestnut%25252520web.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwrn.kr%252Fhomepage%252Fmembers%252Fmyshopping%252Fmempostscript_view.aspx%253Fcno%253D9007%2526physical_name%253Dmempostscript%3B500%3B500A girl with that kind of twist 그런 반전 있는 여자-The word 반전(Ban Jun) means a person who acts differently depending on the situation. Korean people use this word when a person is attractive or when unexpected situation occurs, Korean people use this word. I’m a guy 나는 사나이 - The word 사나이(Sa Na E) means a strong guy, not just a quite guy)A guy who is as warm as you during the day 낮에는 너만큼 따사로운 그런 사나이 A guy who one-shots his coffee before it even cools down 커피 식기도 전에 원 샷 때리는 사나이 A guy whose heart bursts when night comes 밤이 오면 심장이 터져버리는 사나이 That kind of guy 그런 사나이Beautiful, loveable 아름다워 사랑스러워 Yes you, hey, yes you, hey 그래 너 hey 그래 바로 너 hey Beautiful, loveable 아름다워 사랑스러워 Yes you, hey, yes you, hey 그래 너 hey 그래 바로 너 hey Now let’s go until the end 지금부터 갈 데까지 가볼까 Oppa is Gangnam style, Gangnam style Oppa is Gangnam style, Gangnam style Oppa is Gangnam style 오빤 강남스타일 강남스타일 옵옵옵옵 오빤강남스타일 강남스타일 옵옵옵옵 오빤강남스타일 Eh- Sexy Lady, Oppa is Gangnam style Eh- Sexy Lady oh oh oh oh Eh- Sexy Lady 오오오오 오빤 강남스타일 Eh- Sexy Lady 오오오오 A girl who looks quiet but plays when she plays 정숙해 보이지만 놀 땐 노는 여자 -The word 정숙(Jung Suk) means quiet. We can use this word when we talk about a person's personality, but we also can use this word in particular places like School or Restaurant. For example, you can see this word in every restaurant in Korea. Korean people think that they should not talk too much when they eat food. they even use the word at school because students should not make noise. A girl who puts her hair down when the right time comes 이때다 싶으면 묶었던 머리 푸는 여자 -The word 머리(Mur Ri) has two meanings; it can be a person’s hair or head. You can use the word, depending on a situation.A girl who covers herself but is more sexy than a girl who bares it all 가렸지만 웬만한 노출보다 야한 여자 -The word 노출(No Chul) means exposing. For example, we usually use this word when someone exposes his/her body in front of people/ a person. A sensible girl like that 그런 감각적인 여자 I’m a guy 나는 사나이 A guy who seems calm but plays when he plays 점잖아 보이지만 놀 땐 노는 사나이 A guy who goes completely crazy when the right time comes 때가 되면 완전 미쳐버리는 사나이 -the word 때(Tae) means When or Time. A guy who has bulging ideas rather than muscles 근육보다 사상이 울퉁불퉁한 사나이 -the word 사상 means Idea.That kind of guy 그런 사나이 Beautiful, loveable Yes you, hey, yes you, hey 아름다워 사랑스러워 그래 너 hey 그래 바로 너 hey Beautiful, loveable Yes you, hey, yes you, hey 아름다워 사랑스러워 그래 너 hey 그래 바로 너 hey Now let’s go until the end 지금부터 갈 데까지 가볼까 Oppa is Gangnam style, Gangnam style Oppa is Gangnam style, Gangnam style Oppa is Gangnam style 오빤 강남 스타일 강남스타일 옵옵옵옵 오빤 강남스타일 강남스타일 옵옵옵옵 오빤 강남스타일 Eh- Sexy Lady, Oppa is Gangnam style Eh- Sexy Lady oh oh oh oh Eh- Sexy Lady 오오오오 오빤 강남스타일 Eh- Sexy Lady 오오오오 On top of the running man is the flying man, baby baby 뛰는 놈 그 위에 나는 놈 The word 놈 means a man. I’m a man who knows a thing or two 나는 뭘 좀 아는 놈 On top of the running man is the flying man, baby baby 뛰는 놈 그 위에 나는 놈 I’m a man who knows a thing or two 나는 뭘 좀 아는 놈 You know what I’m saying 내가 무슨 말 하는지 알겠지(*repeat..)It will be helpful if you know the words that i wrote in Blue. Other words were repeating again and again. If you want to know more about PSY and the song of Gangnam Style. Please click the following links. Who is PSY?: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PsyWhat's the song called GangNam Style?: If you have any question, please feel free to ask me.ThanksWriter: Joo KLocation: Seoul, South Kora Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
丹尼尔 Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 wow, fantastic. Now, I finally know (understand) more about this funny song. This song was sooooo popular literally everywhere in the world..crazy. thanxx for taking the time to explain the lyrics :party: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joo.K Posted January 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 On 1/11/2014 at 9:19 AM, 丹尼尔 said: wow, fantastic. Now, I finally know (understand) more about this funny song. This song was sooooo popular literally everywhere in the world..crazy. thanxx for taking the time to explain the lyrics :party:I'm happy to know that you liked my post Next time, i will write more interesting posts ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linguaholic Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 There are a lot of repetitions in the song...that's nothing special though as almost all pop songs are constructed by this "hit formula" :=)What does "oppa" mean exactly Joo? Maybe you wrote the meaning somewhere in this thread but I could not find it. I would really like to know if it means something special or not :grin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joo.K Posted January 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 On 1/13/2014 at 1:15 PM, linguaholic said: There are a lot of repetitions in the song...that's nothing special though as almost all pop songs are constructed by this "hit formula" :=)What does "oppa" mean exactly Joo? Maybe you wrote the meaning somewhere in this thread but I could not find it. I would really like to know if it means something special or not :grin:"Oppa" has two meanings one is "an older brother :grin:" and the other is "a man that you love :shy:" (but the man should be older than you) hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linguaholic Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 Thank you for clarifying this Joo! So, why does Psy say Oppa Gangnam Style? :grin: He means "to love someone like people do in the district of Gangnam maybe? :grin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookiesandcream Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Thanks for the post. Finally, I can understand this song. I was actually looking up at translations before but I didn't know if it was quite right in the first place. I love the line "A girl who covers herself but is more sexy than a girl who bares it all". I think it's true that a girl doesn't have to bare it all to define the word 'sexy'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimJongIllest Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 So basically Gangnam style is Korea's equivalent of Beverly Hills, right? Makes sense re-watching the video. All the locations, the clothes and the style. Thanks for the translation! It's weird reading the translations and listening to the song at the same time. It feels so surreal. Just like this Gangnam Style music video minus the actual music Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linguetronix Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 On 1/18/2014 at 10:33 AM, linguaholic said: Thank you for clarifying this Joo! So, why does Psy say Oppa Gangnam Style? :grin: He means "to love someone like people do in the district of Gangnam maybe? :grin:The way she translated it, she wrote "Oppa is Gangnam style", so I think it means that the older man you like is "Gangnam style", meaning he dresses and behaves like people from Gangnam. Hopefully, Joo can clarify this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanseung Posted November 9, 2014 Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 I've never actually looked up the complete translation for this song even though it was/is so popular, so thank you for this! I learnt a lot of new words through this explanation and the lyrics aren't as poor quality as I initially believed, haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpringBreeze Posted November 9, 2014 Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 Wow, great post! My uncle introduced me to this song about a year ago. I was actually surprised how popular it was. I knew very little about k-pop back then, let alone Korean culture. So, the bit of background info you gave was very interesting. I'm going to look up the area Gangnam now so that I can get a visual and more info. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddVisions Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Gangnam style was never too weird of a song to me. It just reminded me of someone having too much fun with a Sims game. On the other hand, I didn't know what the words meant. I'm happy I have a proper translation to look at now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooks57 Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 I knew the song was cleverly written but I didn't realize how much so. I'll have to look into adding translating more songs by him. It's always interesting to see how writers work within the constraints of the song. I find that translating poems is similar. Thanks for translating the words, it means more now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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