Two Korean Jokes to Brighten Your Day

It's been a while since we've posted any jokes up here, so we'll make up for lost time by teaching you two today!


What did the bus driver say to the bread?
빵빵! (bbang bbang)

What did the bus driver say to the egg?
계란! (Gye-ran)

Get it? 빵 is bread in Korean. It's also the sound of a horn honking!
계란  is egg in Korean. It also sounds a lot like "get on" in English!

Know any other good Korean jokes? Post them in the comments! For more jokes, click here.

Joke of the day: What's the opposite of E-mart?

I hope you like our joke series, here's the joke for today!

What's the opposite of E-mart?
이마트 반대말 뭐에요?
저마트 (Cheo-Mart)

Get it?
Ok, here's the explanation. First of all, if you don't live in Korea, you might not know what E-mart is. E-mart is a chain of stores similar to Wal-Mart or Target.

Next you should understand 이, 저 and 그.
이 (Ee)- This
저 (Cheo)- That (within sight)
그 (gu)- That (out of sight)

If you translate 이마트 as "this mart", then the opposite would be 저마트 "that mart".

Ok, this is a really terrible corny joke to Koreans, but coming from a non-Korean, it should be worth a few laughs! ^^

이, 저 and 그 are some really useful words to know and use in your daily life. Let's see some examples:


Shopkeeper- 뭐 찾으세요? (What are you looking for?)
You- 벨트 필요해요. (I need a belt)
Shopkeeper- 이 벨트는 어때요? (How about this belt?)
You- 이 벨트는 그냥 그래요. 저 벨트가 좋아요 (No, I don't like this belt. I like that belt)

Friend- 누구 좋아해? (Who do you like?)
You- 몰라.... (I don't know...)
Friend- 이 남자 좋아해? (Do you like this guy?)
You- 아니... (No...)
Friend- 저 남자는? (This guy?)
You- 저 남자도 싫어... (No...)
Friend- 그럼? 누구? (Then who?)
You- 상현 오빠 기억해? (Do you remember Sanghyun oppa?)
Friend- 그 남자!?!?! (That guy!?!?)

어휘 Vocabulary:  
찾다- to look for, to find  
벨트- belt  
좋아하다/안좋아하다-to like/to dislike  
기억하다- to remember
싫다- to dislike
그냥 그래요- so so

숙제 Homework:
Make a sentence(s) or a dialogue using 이, 저 and 그 and post it in the comments or e-mail it to us!

Joke of the day: The Scariest War Ever

What is the scariest war the world has ever known?
세상에서 제일 무서운 전쟁이뭔지 알아요?
무서워 (Mu-seo-weo)

Get it? 무섭다 is the base form of the word for "scary" or "scared". As it is a "ㅂ" verb, it is irregular when conjugated, dropping the ㅂ and adding the 워. This is the 반말 (ban-mal, informal) conjugation of the verb, to say it formally, you would need to simply add 요: 무서워요.

Now, why is this funny? It's a play on the pronunciation of the word "war" in English. "워" sounds like "war" to Korean speakers (and maybe to Bostonians who like to drop their "r"s at the end of words, too). I hope you like this joke, and try it on your friends today!

숙제 Homework:
When the syllable block preceding the ㅂ in irregular ㅂ verbs has an ㅏ or ㅗ the ㅂ is dropped and a 와 is added. ex. 돕다 (to help) --> 도와요
When the syllable block preceding the ㅂ in irregular ㅂ verbs has any other vowel, the ㅂ  is dropped and a 워 is added. ex 무섭다 (scary) --> 무서워요

Conjugate the following three irregular ㅂ verbs.

쉽다 (easy)
부럽다 (jealous)
징그럽다 (gross/ disgusting)

Do you know another irregular ㅂverb? Post it in the comments with a conjugation and a translation!

*check your answer in the comments*

Joke of the day: King Sejong's milk

You can tell this joke in English or Korean to your Korean friends. It's fun in any language. The first thing you need to know is the word for milk in Korean: 우유 (Oo-yu). Here's the joke in English and Korean:

Did you know that King Sejong invented his own brand of milk? What did he call his milk?
세종대왕이 우유를 만들었는데 뭔지 알아요?

 아야어여오요우유! (Ah-ya-eo-yeo-o-yo-OO-YU)


Do you get it? These are the basic vowels of the Korean alphabet, hangul... which was invented by King Sejong! If you don't get it, try it on your Korean friends anyway, and after they laugh, they can explain it to you too.