Text: 고래 싸움에 새우등 터진다

Translation: Shrimp’s back breaks while caught up in a whale’s fight

Context: It’s a proverb that my mom just uses a lot. A lot of the older Korean generation uses it to reference how Korea as a whole country was sandwiched between China and Japan and was fought multiple times over between the two countries. But for me and my brother, it was used to break us up when fighting or as my mom would say it, to not pick useless fights that we can’t win.

Analysis: This Korean proverb has some historical background. Famously, the Republic of Korea was plunged into many wars due to multiple countries trying to take it over for themselves; constantly destroying the country for years in the process. So in that sense, people take it as a warning to not pick fights with entities bigger than themselves unless they want to get hurt in the process.

Text: 누워서 침뱉기

Translation: Spitting On Yourself While Laying Down

Context: I’ve heard this used as a scolding for when I’ve been viewed as sabotaging something good for myself. It’s pretty self-explanatory as my mom says. Why would you want to mess up what good you have (your face in this proverb).

Analysis: It is a Korean proverb which is used to warn that the result of one’s bad behavior comes back to oneself in a bad way. It could be seen as the English proverb, “What comes up must come down”. It is a well-known warning used to warn people of all ages that if we try to harm others, we’ll only be going out of our own way to hurt ourselves.

Text:  보기 좋은 떡이 먹기도 좋다

Translation: yummy looking rice cake are yummy too

Context: It’s just a silly little saying my mom used to say to me but as I grew up I figured out the deeper meaning behind it. My mom used to say it as a bit of a cheering method to encourage me to study harder as she believed that if you put hard work into making something “look” good, your results would look pretty too.

Analysis: This is a very subtle or a bit more nuanced proverb. Looking from it at face value, you would think it’s maybe something just young children say. But this Korean proverb is heartwarming as it is used often for encouragement to high school students that studying hard now, will result in good fortune in the future.

Text: 하나를 알면 열을 안다

Translation:  You see one thing, and you know 10 things about them automatically.

Context: “My dad used this against me a lot growing up. I didn’t like it because I thought it really judged people too harshly too fast. I got it used for situations where my room was messy, and I was always told, “People are going to know right away you are lazy”. Growing up now, I think I can see it work sometimes but I still think it’s one of the harsher proverbs.”

Analysis: The Korean proverb, “You see one thing, you know ten things” is one that is used as advice to people, especially younger people. It’s like a parallel to the English proverb, “Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover”. Except this time, it’s telling you to judge immediately. It’s a harsher piece of advice for younger adults to be strict on how they look and that first impressions do matter immensely.