- Words
- Hard to translate
번역되지 않는 말
Untranslatable Korean words
You can explain each of these words in English. What does not travel is the fit: the one word that does the whole job. Here is each word, the closest English gets, and what slips through.
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눈치 nunchi knowing what the room needs before anyone says it -
정 jeong the warmth that grows just because you keep showing up -
한 han a sorrow that settled in and never quite left -
답답하다 dapdaphada the feeling of no air, inside or out -
아깝다 akkapda the small pain of seeing something good go unused -
시원하다 siwonhada relief, when something blocked finally clears -
서운하다 seounhada the quiet hurt of expecting a little more from someone close -
억울하다 eogulhada paying for what wasn't your fault, and feeling the unfairness inside -
우리 uri our mum, our house — speaking from inside a group -
속상하다 soksanghada an upset that turns inward instead of out -
수고하세요 sugohaseyo thanks and goodbye to someone still working -
고생 gosaeng honouring how hard it was, before praising how it went -
잘 먹겠습니다 jal meokgetseumnida a thank-you shaped as a promise, said before the first bite -
다녀오겠습니다 danyeoogetseumnida a goodbye with the coming home already built in
Learn the words in their sentences
Every example on these pages comes from a Soho Korean lesson, with Sori the magpie and Hoya the tiger. Seven of these words are also phone wallpapers for launch-list members.