South Korean films and TV series have in the last few years rapidly swept across the cultural scenes of Asia, Europe and the US. South Korean culture has become so popular that the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) last month added 26 Korean words to its latest edition.
According to reporting by CNN, the term “K-pop” was added to the OED’s corpus in 2016 following two decades of South Korean idol groups and pop music taking the world by storm and garnering millions of fans in the process.
In addition to pop music, South Korean film and TV drama has built a global presence, including last year’s multi-award-winning smash hit Parasite and the recently-released Squid Game, which is set to become Netflix’s biggest-ever show. The word “K-drama” was one of the Korean words added to last month’s OED update.
Photo courtesy of Netflix 照片：網飛提供
Also included in last month’s update was hallyu, which means “Korean wave” and refers to the global phenomenon of South Korean culture sweeping the globe. The popularity of South Korean popular culture has driven interest in South Korean tourism and food culture. Accordingly, new additions to the OED corpus include banchan (small side dishes of vegetables served as part of a larger meal) and bulgogi (Korean-style barbecued beef). Other additions include hanbok (traditional Korean clothing), aegyo (coquettish behavior considered adorable in Korean culture) and mukbang (a self-made video of someone eating food while talking to the camera). Some existing English words that have taken on a new meaning through South Korean culture have also been included in the dictionary’s update, such as “fighting,” which has been adapted by South Koreans as an encouragement to others, similar in meaning to“keep going” or “go for it.”
A statement released by the OED said: “We are all riding the crest of the Korean wave, and this can be felt not only in film, music, or fashion, but also in our language, as evidenced by some of the words and phrases of Korean origin included in the latest update of the Oxford English Dictionary.” The statement continued: “The adoption and development of these Korean words in English also demonstrate how lexical innovation is no longer confined to the traditional centers of English in the United Kingdom and the United States.”(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
韓國影視產業近年以風馳電掣，先後橫掃亞洲和歐美文化圈，流行的程度就連牛津英語辭典都在九月的詞目更新中，增加了二十六個韓式英文單字。
Photo: AP 照片：美聯社
《CNN》報導，南韓過去二十年以大量偶像團體和流行歌曲風靡全球數百萬粉絲，「K-pop」一字也在二○一六年被收錄進牛津字典中。
除了流行音樂外，南韓電影和戲劇也走上全球舞台，包括去年橫掃各大影展獎項的《寄生上流》，以及近日爆紅，有望成為網飛（Netflix）最受歡迎影集的《魷魚遊戲》等，「K-drama」也被列為此次的牛津新字。
牛津字典的新一波更新中，加入了描述南韓風潮的用語「韓流」（hallyu）一詞。文化流行也帶動了該國的觀光和飲食文化，包括「飯饌」（韓式小菜，banchan）、「韓式烤牛肉」（bulgogi）等，以及「韓服」（hanbok）、「撒嬌」（aegyo）和「吃播」（mukbang），另外有一些是由韓國文化賦予新意的現存單字，像是「fighting」被用於鼓勵和加油。
牛津字典聲明寫道，「我們都馳騁在南韓浪潮的浪尖上，且不只是在電影、音樂和流行文化上，還包含了語言，從我們最新一次更新中看見的韓式單字和片語可見一斑」、「韓式英文的發展和採用也證明了一件事，那就是詞彙的創造不再侷限於美國和英國兩大傳統英語中心。」
（自由時報）
A: Finally! Cantopop superstar Andy Lau is touring Taipei starting tonight. B: Yeah, he is set to perform at the Taipei Arena for four nights. A: It seems like he is still energetic on stage even at the age of 63. B: Lau, Jacky Cheung, Leon Lai and Arron Kwok are dubbed Hong Kong’s “Four Heavenly Kings.” A: Hopefully, the four “kings” can visit Taiwan more often. A: 終於啊！香港天王劉德華今晚起將在台北開唱。 B: 他預計在台北小巨蛋，一連熱唱4天！ A: 看來劉天王雖然63歲了，在舞台上還是一尾活龍。 B: 他和張學友、黎明、郭富城還被稱為香港「四大天王」。 A: 希望天王們以後能更常來台灣。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Imagine the thrill of diving into the ocean, holding your breath, and exploring underwater worlds without any modern gear. This is the life of the haenyeo, South Korea’s sea women. Armed with only diving goggles and handmade tools, these skilled divers venture into the ocean’s depths to manually harvest marine products like abalone and seaweed. The haenyeo tradition, dating back to the 17th century, was originally dominated by men. However, a combination of wars and deep-sea fishing accidents created a shortage of male labor. Women’s greater resistance to cold proved a blessing to the struggling communities. As a result, they began
A: Originally, supergroup Mayday was also going to launch four charity concerts starting today. B: I know, they were trying to boost Hualien’s tourism industry. A: And all 14 artists from B’in Music were going to join the free concerts. B: But they just announced all shows will be postponed due to Typhoon Kong-Rey. A: Well, safety first. A: 原本今天起，天團五月天的公益演唱會也將開跑。 B: 我知道，主要是為了振興花蓮的觀光業。 A: 「相信音樂」旗下14組歌手，聽說這次都會共襄盛舉。 B: 結果主辦單位宣布所有演出因颱風康芮延期。 A: 嗯安全至上吧。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
For people with hearing loss, clear communication can seem like a distant dream. However, advancements in technology are __1__ this barrier. TranscribeGlass, a wearable device, can translate spoken words into text displayed on a transparent screen directly in the user’s field of vision. This innovation enables people with hearing disabilities to fully engage in conversations. Assistive technology like captioning is an important means of communication for people with hearing loss. Captioning software on cellphones can be a helpful option, but it has limitations. Many users often find themselves __2__ to constantly glance down at the phone screen, which disrupts eye contact
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