Contusion Confusion

Boxing Purple – poor kid, thats quite a shiner

Poor kid… 눈탱이가 밤탱이 됐네. That’s quite a shiner!

눈탱이가 밤탱이 되다 [noon-taeng-i-ga bam-taeng-i dwe-da] get a black eye; have a contusion on the eye, have a shiner 
And yes, so there is no confusion, when we talk about black eyes in Korea we are talking about roasted chestnuts… yeah, the ones roasting on your open fire as jack frost is nipping… well, you know. We are literally saying “your eyeballs have become chestnuts.” As chestnuts are dark brown (or black when roasted), the meaning is simply to to get a black eye. (Makes more sense than a shiner!) Koreans like this expression for its rhythmic sound.