A restaurant in Itaewon caused a stir over the weekend as people debated if naming its chicken dish fried in dark batter “heukhyeong chicken” was an act of racism.
“Heukhyeong,” a slang term that became popular on the Internet, literally translates as “black bro.”
The irony of the brouhaha over heukhyeong chicken is that the term “heukhyeong” was created in online communities by young Koreans who like the African-American culture, including hip-hop music, and admire black people who are good at sports, singing or dancing.
According to the Korean site of Wikipedia ― the only source that defines the term ― heukhyeong refers to a black person who has “superior abilities” to others. The Korean word “heukin” means a black person, and “hyeong” is brother. Koreans use the latter for someone older than them, and those they feel close to or respect. By dropping “in,” unknown creators made the term sound friendly.
The youth culture behind the creation of the word marks quite a contrast to that of the older generations who often call other races by derogatory terms.
Regardless of the good intentions behind the term, however, it reveals the cultural insensitivity of some Koreans, observers said.
Park Hyong-dong, a 28-year-old who spent a few years in the U.S., and likes hip-hop music, isn’t happy with the term “heukhyeong.”
“Although heukhyeong is supposed to carry positive connotations, the word makes a caricature of black people and categorizes them into a group rather than respecting each individual,” Park said.
Park pointed out that “heukhyeong” is often mentioned together with another online slang term “jongteuk” which translates as a characteristic of a race.
A black person living in Seoul, who wanted to be identified by only his first name Omar, shares a similar opinion. Omar said that he was called “heukhyeong” a few weeks ago when he was dancing.
※ 다음에 나오는 문제들은 본 기사에 나오는 중요한 어휘들로 구성된 토익, 토플, 텝스 기출 및 예상 문제입니다.
※ Choose the one word or phrase that best keeps the meaning of the highlighted part or fill in the blank with a suitable one.
1. The recent price hikes
high inflation.
① caused ② caused increase of ③ bought ④ was due to
2. I
his work.
① recognize ② exploit ③ tolerate ④ esteem
3. Acting is defined as the ability to react to
stimuli.
① unexpected ② uncommon ③ unusual ④ unreal
4. To the derogatory comments from the older generation the teenagers might
that new fashions and styles are adopted by the elders with alacrity.
① reply ② understand ③ surrender ④ smooth
5. When a word acquires a bad connotation by association with something unpleasant or embarrassing, people may search for substitutes that do not have the _______________ effect - that is, euphemisms.
① primitive ② emotional ③ uncomfortable ④ social
[번역 및 정답]
1. [번역] 최근의 가격인상이 높은 인플레이션(통화팽창)을
.
[정답] ①
2. [번역] 나는 그의 일을
[정답] ④
3. [번역] 연기란
자극에 반응을 보이는 능력을 정의된다.
4. [번역] 구세대로부터 듣는 악담에 대해 10대들은 새로운 유행과 스타일을 어른들도 기민하게 받아들인다고
모른다.
5. [번역] 어떤 말이 불쾌하거나 난처한 어떤 것과 연상하여 나쁜 함축성을 얻게 된다면, 사람들은 아마 그런
영향을 미치지 않을 대용어, 즉 완곡한 말을 찾고자 할 것이다.
[정답] ③