On the Learning Curve

 

On the Learning Curve

 

                                                         By Lee Hyon-soo

 

There is absolutely nothing in common between Korean and English. Indeed, these two languages are worlds apart. Little wonder, then, that it is a rough journey for Koreans to learn English.

 

For obvious reasons, Korea is not a good place in which to learn English. So, while learning English in Korea, I thought that I would be able to acquire a perfect command of English in no time at all, only if I moved to an English-speaking country.

 

It later turned out that I was mistaken. Not only did I grossly underestimate the complexity of the English language but I did not have a so-called “ear for languages,” that is, a gift for learning foreign languages easily. The upshot is that although I have been living in Canada on and off for more than four decades, I am not as proficient in English as I am supposed to be. I am still on the learning curve.

 

One of the things that I do to polish up on my English is to familiarize myself with a wide range of common English ｅxpressions, especially idiomatic ones.

 

If you are on the learning curve like me, see if you know what the following words and phrases mean and where they come from – if only for the fun of it (gleaned from various sources):

 

Albatross: The real albatross is a large seabird. But the word “albatross” metaphorically means (1) something that causes persistent deep concern or anxiety and (2) something that greatly hinders accomplishment. This metaphorical meaning comes from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s long narrative poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” in which the Ancient Mariner tells how, as a young sailor, he shot with his crossbow an albatross that had guided his storm-driven ship out of the Antarctic. Trouble then befell the ship. The crew, blaming him for it, hung the dead bird around his neck as a curse.

 

Fortnight: Hadrian’s Wall, built to guard the Roman’s northern England border against the marauding Scots, had forts situated at regular intervals along its length. Every two weeks the soldiers got to sleep inside them and this is where the term for two weeks, “fortnight,” comes from.

 

Bite the bullet: Brace yourself for an unpleasant experience; decide to get on with a difficult task. The term originated in battlefield surgery before the days of anesthesia. A surgeon about to operate on a wounded soldier would urge him to bite on a bullet of soft lead to distract him from the pain. At least it would minimize his ability to scream and thus divert the surgeon.

 

Face the music: Accept the unpleasant consequences of one’s actions. A commonly repeated assertion is that this phrase originated from the tradition of disgraced officers being “drummed out” of their regiment.

 

Split hairs: Make very fine and pointless distinctions in arguing. The kind of person who will split hairs is usually one who likes argument for argument’s sake. Shakespeare used this ｅxpression in the 1600s in one of his plays and “splitting hairs” has been widely used since.

 

Devil’s advocate: An official within the Catholic Church who argues against the canonization of a candidate to uncover any character flaws or misrepresentation of the evidence favoring canonization. In common parlance, the term describes someone who, given a certain point of view, takes a position he or she does not necessarily agree with (or simply an alternative position from the accepted norm) for the sake of debate or to explore the thought further.

 

Indeed, learning English is an uphill struggle for Koreans. Nevertheless we should spare no effort to become proficient in English because we now live in a global village where English is the most widely used language.  

 

The Korea Times

January 2018