Badass Korean
You're cool like Korea... You’re a real BADASS, so learn to speak like one!Learn some Korean slang from the GreyRat before you become the linguistic equivalent of a 99-pound weakling.
Let’s hop on the bus and get this thing 고고씽!
The picture gets your attention. The expression is the real punchline. Here is the meaning and the scene behind it, straight from As Much as a Rat’s Tail.
고고씽
[go-go-ssing]
get a move on; get crackin’; let’s go
TL;DR ~ No relaxing necessary! Oh, shit! There goes our bus! Get your ass in gear! We’ve got places to go and things to do, subways to catch, people to bump into, lines to cut in front of, rock and roll baby, this is the 빨리 빨리 [balli balli] culture after all. 고고씽! Damnit, 고고씽! No, really… if you want fast paced. Seoul is your TL;DR place!
Meaning & context
씽은, 빠른 자동차를 묘사하는 의성어 씽씽으로부터 유래하였다. 이것이 영어 단어 go를 두 번 반복한 것과 결합되어 친구에게 무언가를 재촉하는 경우에 쓰이고있다.
Ssing comes from the Korean ssing ssing (씽씽), an onomatopoeic word to describe a speeding vehicle. This is combined with the English word “go,” repeated twice, to urge friends to speed. Mainly used on the internet and in text messaging to relate the need for speed and somewhat similar to “go go go,” “we’ve got to hustle,” “pick up the pace,” or “let’s haul ass!”
From As Much as a Rat’s Tail · book pages 20–20. Original published text; historical references and usage are retained.
STORY TIME
See it in conversation
Korean
기말고사
English
Finals
드디어 시험이 끝났구나! 넌 뭐할거야?
Finally, the test is over! What do you want to do?
술이나 빨러 고고씽해야지. 같이 가자!
I’d better gogossing to suck down a drink. Let’s go together.
그래, 넌 답을 알고 있었어. 그럼 넌 A받는거야. A는 ‘Alcohol’이라는 뜻이지. 고고씽하자!
Ah, you knew the answer. You get an ‘A’ for Alcohol. Let’s gogossing!
From the book: notes & culture
The Straight Scoop
빨러 [bbal-leo] literally “to lick or to suck down.” This slang used often among young people for drinking alcohol, smoking up, or taking drugs (getting high).
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