말 까다
[mal gga-da]
speak plainly; dispense with the niceties
Meaning & context
“고상함 없이, 겉치레 없이 이야기 한다”는 의미. 직역으로 이것은 “반말” 또는 낮춤말 한
다는 것을 의미한다. 반말은 친구들이나 자신보다 어린 사람들과의 사이같은 비형식적인 상황에서 사용되어진다.
Literally “to peel away (dispense with) the niceties” and “to speak plainly or without pretense.” Essentially, mal ggada means “to speak banmal” (the Korean low, familiar or informal language) when it is not appropriate to do so. Banmal can be used in informal situations among friends or with people younger than you, but should not be used to superiors, elders or anyone not close to you.
From As Much as a Rat’s Tail · book pages 104–105. Original published text; historical references and usage are retained.
STORY TIME
See it in conversation
Korean
용산에서
English
On Dragon Mountain
당신도 용띠였네요!
You are from the year of the dragon too!
당근이지.
Of course.
와우, 전 그쪽이 형인줄 알고 있었어요! 지금부터 그냥 말까자.
Wow, I always thought you were a hyeong! Let’s just mal ggada from now on.
말까지마 이런... 그래도 내가 너보다 생일이 2달 빠르잖아.
Don’t mal ggada, you cad. Even so, my birthday is two months before yours!
From the book: notes & culture
The Straight Scoop
당근이지 [dang-geun-i-ji] literally “it’s a carrot,” Danggeun means“obviously” “you bet” or “no shit!” This expression comes close in sound to the Korean tangyeonhaji (당연하지) meaning “of course.” [Also, muloniji (몰론이지)] This then evolved into 말밥이지 [mal-bab-i-ji], literally meaning, “it’s horse food,” from the concept that a carrot is horse food. However, in the late 90’s, I heard the expression 물개이지 [mul-gae-i-ji] short for 물론이지 개새끼야 [mullon-i-ji gae-sae-ki-ya] or “of course, you son of a bitch.” This last expression is much less common and some Koreans have never even heard it, but it’s fun to use and explain to them anyway. Somewhat similar to the English expression “Does a bear shit in the woods?” or better yet, “No shit, Sherlock!” Also, there is the simple and sweet 콜 [kol] used ubiquitously to answer questions in the affirmative, meaning “sure” “you bet” or “certainly.”
당빠지 [dang-bba-ji] or 당삼빠따지 [dang-sam-bba-dda-ji] are other fun ways of saying tangyeonhaji (당연하지), maybe somehow related to three carrot bats(?), but more importantly, these expressions are preferred for their sound than their derivation and may be purely onomatopoeic in origin.
형 [hyeong] literally means an older brother, but in Korean can be used by any man for another older man as a term of respect.
이런 [i-reon] literally meaning “such a. . .” or “this kind of. . .”It implies an ending of a swear word or something less powerful, like a cad.
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