wuri yong joon nim!
i was already thinking about it when surya asked me what's the meaning of wuri. don't get me wrong, i ain't getting impatient or anything like that, just that she's like the Nth person to have asked me that.then i realised that a few questions kept coming up and coz i always answered them in the comments section, i couldn't search for them when someone else asked that same question a few weeks down the road. i was thinking maybe i should do a FAQ thingy and post the link at the sidebar or something.
then WA asked that wuri question again! that did it... okay, i've kindda decided that i'll do a FAQ post and stick the link on my sidebar. i'll try and get it all done up and posted over this weekend. but meanwhile, i'll just answer WA's questions first.
here's what WA had said to my YJ not going kyrgyz post.
How lucky those fans got to meet Mr. BYJ face to face! But I read in several of your previous posts that you too had the opportunity to meet him in person! Aren’t you gals lucky or what! I wish this opportunity will knock on my door, naught!
On another matter, thanks for your response to my question and I would like to extend my thanks to Byjglobal for her excellent example. If you do not mind, I have a couple of questions regarding the Korean way of salutation:
1. What do ssi, nim, and wuri mean?
2. Can one use those terms when addressing a female person?
Sorry for being so relentless on asking you “silly” questions. It is pretty obvious that I am clueless on Korean social etiquette!
and WA, here's my reply...
hi hi WA,
hee, one of the FAQs here is how many times i've seen yong joon. click here for the answer. i'm not sure if i should say seven or 13.
am sure you've been coming here long enough to know i ain't korean, hee... but i will try my best to answer your not-at-all-silly questions, k? really, don't worry, your questions ain't silly at all. i only learnt about them after i became a byj fan too. and others out there, if there's anything you want to correct me on, or wanna share, please go ahead, ya?
1. meaning of wuri
hehe, you've no idea how many times i've been asked what wuri means... really! just a few days ago, surya asked me that...
well, wuri means our in korean... you can use wuri on people as well as things. i like to say wuri yong joon, which effectively means our yong joon. see? i'm such a sharing person!!! hee...
2. meaning of ssi
ssi is just a form of address the koreans add to the back of a person's name to be more polite. for instance, you can address wuri yong joon as bae yong joon-ssi or yong joon-ssi.
i suppose it's sort of like our 'mr' or 'miss', except that it doesn't have any gender connotation. or an even closer example would be 'san' in japanese.
3. meaning of nim
as for nim... this is yet another form of address, and normally it's also added at the back of a person's name. this is a more respectful and formal form of address, and some people say it's also more literary, i.e. usually used in writing, and less so in actual conversations.
and yes, as with ssi, you can use nim regardless of gender.
another point to note about nim... in the case of professions such as teachers or professors, there's also a nim at the back, like teacher is sohn-sang-nim and professor is gyo-soo-nim...
4. oh, yong joon nim!!
i sidetrack abit here... there's a famous buddhist monk in korea during the era of japanese occupation (1910- 1945), his name was manhae. he published a book Everything Yearned For.
the first poem in this book is "My Lover's Silence" [aka The Silence of the Lover, Nim ui ch’immuk], it's a poignant piece that talks about a lover's departure. the poem follows through the happiness of meeting, the sadness of separation, the agony of longing and waiting, and it talks about how we go on with life whilst missing the love of our lives.
in this poem, manhae uses nim when referring to the lover. and in the english translation of the poems, the word nim was translated into love, lover or the beloved.
so for some korean fans, when they address wuri yong joon as yong joon-nim, other than it's a respectful form of address, it's also calling him 'love'. sweet, no?
posted by bb @ 10/25/2006 12:26:00 AM
15 Comments:
I love that idea of FAQ thingy.. please do. And these are (WA's questions) the very questions I like to ask. Thanks a lot. This is amazing .. because of Joon, I am able to get into the interesting world of Bae sisters, at least from the outer circle.
hi hi yee,
thanks for coming back here on my blog :)
oh, really? those questions were on your mind too? hehe, yea, maybe the FAQ post might not be such a bad idea :p
Actually, I visit your blog everyday, after I check my emails at work, except on the weekends, because I need a break from the computer at least for 2 days.. (=.= feeling ashamed to tell the girl who is updating her blog tirelessly everyday)
Please go check my comment on your 22nd. posting (8 days article)
and hey yee, don't worry about me not reading your comments, even if posted on the older postings.
think i've shared this before, my blog setting is such that all of your comments will be emailed to me, together with the link of that particular posting you've replied to. that way, i won't miss any comments, even if made to a very very old posting.
i've replied you already, thanks!
p.s. thanks for visiting us everyday! really appreciate it :)
I posted a note here but it's gone...
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Professor bb
Korean 101: "wuri, "ssi" and "nim"
Excellent explanation for those of us who are curious but didn't ask (that's me). I knew "ssi" and "nim" were polite endings when addressing someone...similar to "san" (I did learn something in Japanese school)
"wuri" I didn't know what it meant and now I do.
Is "ssi" pronounced like "she or shi"??
Thank you!!
wuri bb is excellent in many ways! Thanks. Sohn-Sang-Nim(another way to address someone with respect).
hi hi vegas,
so you read abit of japanese? you know... before becoming a bae fan, i've never wished so much that i could understand korean and japanese :p
err... she and shi are pronounced quite the same, no? except that she's dragged longer at the end?
in korean, s is a consonant, and it's pronounced pretty much like the english s. in this case, it's a double consonant, meaning you just read ssi like si, except that you stress the consonant abit more to sound abit sharper and shorter. am i making any sense at all?
or can anyone who knows korean help me out here?
p.s. ah, i know! just go watch any korean drama... you will definitely hear them using ssi all the time :p
okay, i'd better say this first... i don't speak korean.
so haha, i really can't answer any questions relating to the language. but you can always ask away, since we do get a few korean sisters here and we also have fellow fans who have been learning korean, so even if i can't help you, there'll be others who can :p
p.s. haiyo, think i'd better go find a hole to hide... can't have byjglobal, a korean(!) calling me sohn-sang-nim :p
I humbly bow before Professor bb!
my Japanese is so/so...not enough to get out of a paper bag....LOL
I'll take your "advice" and watch K-dramas and I'll listen carefully for the "ssi" endings.
Don't go hiding in any holes!!!!
thanks!!
hehe, vegas, you'd better just wait awhile... i keep having this feeling that someone's gonna come correct me any second now... hehe, i don't speak korean... so ha, what on earth am i doing trying to tell you how to reach ssi? :p
bb, that FAQ thingy is a good idea. i can improve my nihongo and hangul at the same time! :)
hee, i always watch "How To Learn Korean TV Show" ^_^;
thanks!
mymy
My teacher says that Koreans like and prefer to use 'wuri', instead of 'my'. Eg.. wuri jib (our house) instead of ne jib (my house).
I think it's supposed to sound more sharing and less self centred... I think...
hey tiff,
yea, that's what i'd heard too. that the koreans prefer to use our as opposed to my... that's quite nice, i thought, kindda brings people closer, and yea, it comes across as less self-centred.
hi bb
i always wondering what is wuri,ssi and
nim means. now i know.
thanks a millions.
have a good week end.
with love
rosanna
hey there rosanna!
so you're one of those who have been wondering... mmm, wondering how many people were wondering..!! sure am glad i decided to do this post :)
you have a good weekend too :)
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