Liver of God...?

[Crossbreed]

My son attending college in Milwaukee goes to a church that was established by (South) Korean missionaries.
The pastor was explaining to him how, in Korean, it was difficult to pronounce the leading "r" in "river," such as in hymns that refer to the "river of God."

He further noted that when Americans came to Korea and sang the Korean translation of that phrase,
they would often mispronounce their word <gang> [강 = "river"] as <gan> [간 = "liver"], too...

 

[Raggamuffin]

I imagine that God's liver could handle more drinks than the rest of us.

I wonder what his favourite drink would be.

Ed

 

[unperson]

Grapes of wrath?

 

[Raggamuffin]

You certainly feel their wrath the morning after.

Ed

 

[unperson]

Indeed.

 

[Aneka]

Wow, so in English you have river/ liver and in Korea you have literally the same with gan/ gang.

Is that coincidence? Big mystery.

 

[OkRad]

I imagine that God's liver could handle more drinks than the rest of us.

I wonder what his favourite drink would be.

Ed

Nectar and Ambrosia (Iliad)

 

[Judge]

Gangnam Style...it's all good!

 

[Crossbreed]

Gangnam Style...it's all good!

I was just looking at that.
I wonder if the "gang" part is the same root word...?

 

[Judge]

I was just looking at that.
I wonder if the "gang" part is the same root word...?

Could be...assuming the Han River may include the most affluent parts of Seoul that they call the "Gangnam District". And on a map, it does indeed- right in the heart of the city.

 

[Crossbreed]

I punched "gangnam" into an English-to-Korean translator and it gave me 강남.
I separated its two parts with a space.
It translated back to English as "River South."*

From its Wikipedia page,
Gangnam literally means "South of the (Han) River."

*(edit: So, Southbank...?)

 

[Tom]

Liver Dance

 

[Crossbreed]

I punched "gangnam" into an English-to-Korean translator and it gave me 강남.
I separated its two parts with a space.
It translated back to English as "River South."*

From its Wikipedia page,
Gangnam literally means "South of the (Han) River."

*(edit: So, Southbank...?)

It turns out that the "nam" in Vietnam also means "south/ern."
Translated, it means something to the effect of "southern province."

 

[Judge]

It turns out that the "nam" in Vietnam also means "south/ern."
Translated, it means something to the effect of "southern province."

Interesting. Different language...though that's exactly how the Gangnam District sits in Seoul.

- Just south of the Han River. Coincidence or language similarity?

 

[Crossbreed]

Coincidence or language similarity?

I am guessing that both are based on Chinese.

 

[Crossbreed]

Update: my son in the OP married a Korean girl from that church, last year and, days ago, announced that they were expecting!

 

[Aspychata]

Grand -pappason, congrats.

 

[Crossbreed]

That will be our eighth (but who's counting...? ).