내 컴퓨터가 죽었다!

외국어를 배우다 보면 실수를 많이 하는 게 당연하죠. 근데 틀린 문법이나 틀린 철자보다 어색한 표현을 쓰면 더 웃기죠? 예를 들면...

1)...청계천을 산책하다가 물고기를 봤는데 친구한테 “봐봐봐! 생선 있다!”라고 신나게 말했어요. 왜냐하면 영어로는 살아있는 물고기하고 구운 생선하고 둘 다 “fish”라고 하거든요.

2)...전자 사전을 사려고 강변 테크노마트에 갔었는데 예쁜 컴퓨터가 많아서 친구랑 노트북 구경도 했었어요. “도시바는 별로야... 내 컴퓨터가 죽었어!”라고 해서 친구가 웃음을 터뜨렸고 무슨 말이냐고 물어봤어요. 영어로는 “my computer died” 아님 “my computer’s dead”라는 표현들이 “내 컴퓨터가 고장났다”라는 뜻이에요.

가끔씩 한 언어에서 다른 언어로 직역하면 말이 이상하게 나올 수도 있죠. ㅎㅎ

여러분들의 이야기를 좀 들려 주세요. ^^

Whenever you learn a foreign language, you're bound to make mistakes as you go along. However, making awkward phrases is a lot funnier and more entertaining than plain ol' grammar or spelling mistakes, don't you think? For example...

1) While going for a walk along Cheonggyecheon, I saw a fish in the stream, and shouted with excitement to my friend, "Look look look! It's a fish (saeng-seon)!" You see, in English, whether the fish are alive or grilled, they're still called "fish." (In Korean, "saeng-seon" is a term used for the cooked fish you consume, while "mul-gogi" is a term used for fish that are happily alive in the vast blue sea.)

2) I went to Technomart with a friend, intending to buy an electronic dictionary, but we also checked out some of the laptops since the pickings were so abundant and gorgeous. "Toshiba's not all that great... Mine died!" I said, and my friend burst into laughter, asking me what in the world I had just said. You see, in English, when you say, "My computer died," or "My computer's dead," it's the same thing as saying, "My computer broke." (But obviously this doesn't translate as well in Korean.)

Of course, sometimes literal translations from one language to another undoubtedly result in strange expressions...