Cycle 12 – Item 335
6 (Mon) December 2021
Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus with Cucumbers
3.5
by me
at home
-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-
with W, IZ
In the Joongang Daily today, the Oxford English Dictionary is reported to have adopted 26 words of Korean origin in the 2021 update (see “Drop your kimbap and call your oppa, the OED has 26 new additions“). Koreans across the country, and the universe, throughout history, are going ape shit – as noted a couple weeks ago (in relation to Squid Game‘s overhyped achievement as the most-watched series in Netflix history), “the news topic that Koreans adore more than anything, more than all other topics combined, is Korean success on the global stage” (see 12.315 Black Squid Burger). And given the Korean obsession with the English language, this is extra big.
Based on the new list, I am confused about the criteria required for a word to be included in OED. I would’ve thought that the word would need to be used by English speakers as an accepted mainstream term in the course of regular conversation. For example, the very first Korean word to be included in OED was “Korean” (which, ironically, isn’t really Korean), added in 1933, both in its nominal and adjectival uses. Among the newbies, I can see “hallyu” or “K-drama” or “mukbang,” all of which have garnered international interest, with no other readily available terms to describe them. However, I’m skeptical that English speakers are using terms like “aegyo” or “daebak” or “fighting” or “skinship,” which are all great words, in Korean, but should they now be considered English?
I was amused to note that 8 of the words are related to food. On the OED website, the words are summarized as follows (see “Daebak! The OED gets a K-update“):
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- banchan (first attested 1938) – a small side dish of vegetables, etc., served along with rice as part of a typical Korean meal.
- bulgogi (1958) – a dish of thin slices of beef or pork which are marinated then grilled or stir-fried.
- chimaek (2012) – a combination of fried chicken and beer.
- dongchimi (1962) – a type of kimchi made with radish and typically also containing napa cabbage.
- galbi (1958) –a dish of beef short ribs, usually marinated in soy sauce, garlic, and sugar, and sometimes cooked on a grill at the table.
- japchae (1955)– a dish consisting of cellophane noodles made from sweet potato starch, stir-fried with vegetables and other ingredients, and typically seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil.
- kimbap (1966)– a Korean dish consisting of cooked rice and other ingredients wrapped in a sheet of seaweed and cut into bite-sized slices.
- samgyeopsal (1993) – a Korean dish of thinly sliced pork belly, usually served raw to be cooked by the diner on a tabletop grill.
All of these dishes have been featured on GMTD.
(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)