Talk to Me in Korean: “Steam leaks”
김새다 :[gim-sae-da]
Literal translation: steam leaks, escapes
Actual usage: to spoil one’s fun, one’s enthusiasm dies down, to lose interest
The word 김 [gim] has various meanings. In this expression, 김 refers to “steam” and 새다 means “to leak” or “to escape.” To understand the origins of this expression, we can take a closer look at the literal translation. Imagine you are cooking rice with a rice cooker and you open it too early. In this case your rice is undercooked and not ready yet. Undercooked rice is a negative result and idiomatically 김새다 also has a negative connotation. It means “to spoil someone’s fun” or “one’s enthusiasm dies down.”
For example, if you have an idea to plan a surprise party for someone, but this person finds out about it beforehand, then your excitement dies down and you feel disappointed. You do not want to continue planning the surprise any longer because there is no point in doing so. So, you can imagine the 김 or the steam to be your excitement or interest; combined with 새다, which means “to lose excitement or interest” and you now understand this phrase. As a response, you could say: “아 김샜어,” meaning “Ah, I’m disappointed. I don’t want to do this anymore.”
매운맛을보여주다 :
[mae-un ma-seul bo-yeo-ju-da]
Literal translation: to show someone the spicy taste of something
Actual usage: to express your anger, show someone that you are angry
매운 [mae-un] is the descriptive verb for “spicy” and 맛 [mat] means “taste.” 보여주다 means “to show,” therefore 매운 맛을 보여주다 literally means to show someone the spicy taste of something. In order to understand the idiomatic meaning of this expression, imagine you are angry and you want to express this anger or threaten someone. In that case you can say: “매운 맛을 보여줄 거야!” This translation implies, “I will show you how angry I am.” Let’s say you do not do something you were supposed to do or you could not finish it; the person depending on you in that case could be angry and use this expression.
However, 매운 맛을 보여주다 can also have a slightly different meaning. In a situation where no one believes in you and your abilities, you could feel offended and react by thinking to yourself: “매운 맛을 보여줄거야,” which translates to: “Wait and see, I will show you what I am capable of,” or “I will show you how it is done!” In this situation, you want to prove something to someone: you want to prove that person wrong. You are feeling ignored or disregarded and are frustrated because of it.