Banga … what?

by Cat on May 31, 2007

Korean language question:
According to Flickr this is how you say ‘hello’ in Korean.
Flickr screen shot

‘Bangawoyo? Since when?

Help me out here.

(Full size page view linked here: Flickr screen shot )

Tagged as: Korean, language, photo

{ 6 comments }

1

Paul Kim 05.31.07 at 11:47 pm

Yeah, I don’t think that’s 100% accurate, but I’m not a native speaker. In context of meeting someone, “Bangawoyo” means “Nice to meet you”. What they should be saying is “Hi.” Which, again not being a native speaker, I don’t quite know how to say in Korean.

2

June Kim 06.01.07 at 3:28 am

I’m a native Korean. “bangawayo” might not be exact “hello”, but it looks fine to me. It can correspond to “glad (to see you)” or even “welcome”, I think. Just another greeting..

3

Cat 06.01.07 at 7:11 am

Ah! 반갑와요! Yeah, that makes sense. When I saw it (late last night) it didn’t even occur to me that that’s what the word was. I’m not used to hearing that as an initial greeting, so when it said on the site, “Now you know how to say ‘hi’ in Korean.” I was thinking, “I thought I already knew how to say ‘hi’ in Korean and that wasn’t it!”

Thanks for clearing it up.

4

Jodi 06.01.07 at 8:50 am

I’ve been told by Koreans that it’s a way to say “nice to meet you/hello” when you’re chatting on the internet or text messaging someone. Often I will get text messages that say “Banga banga.” It is sort of a new hybrid of Korean that has resulted from technology. I was also told never to say that to someone because it’s kind of rude.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable than I am can verify that.

5

scotto 06.01.07 at 2:18 pm

yeun soo say:

bangawp-s’m-nee-da = more polite for bangawayo

bangawayo = i’m delighted/pleased (to meet you)

you would say this to people you first meet, but not necessarily every time you would say hello.

;-D

but you’ll feel like a dork if you find out that you already have met this person before and simply forgot. LOL

6

Cat 06.03.07 at 9:57 am

See, the ‘bangapseumnida’ is the version I’d been taught–and only with ‘mannaseo bangapseumnida’ (the full version of ‘Nice to meet you.’ I’m making up the Romanization as I go, BTW), so I just didn’t connect that bangawayo was the less formal version. But it does make sense.

I’m not planning on using it because I’d be too afraid of giving offense when meeting someone for the first time.

And, Jodi, the text/chat thing I’ve also heard about, I think. (Though I’m not yet cool enough to text with anyone in Korean. ;-))

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