Chicken touch!

No,you shut the fuck up!


This has to be my favorite strange translation in Korean. It’s also and endless source of amusement for both myself and my students.

You see, there’s an expression in Korea that’s not very nice. In Korean it’s – ?? – which means “shut the fuck up.” (It’s pronounced “dalk chyeo” in case you were curious.) But if you take the two syllables separately, you get “chicken” and “touch.”

Now, how does one get “shut the fuck up” from “chicken” and “touch?” I haven’t a clue. It’s just one of those weird language things that comes from having different words mean different things depending on the context, and other words, they’re used with.

It’s a great phrase though, especially in the badly translated form. Since Korean students have been taught that “dalk chyeo” is the same as “shut up” in English, they all think “shut up” is a very bad thing to say to somebody. I’ve tried to correct this (and even gave a talk to a group of Korean teachers about it just yesterday), but I fear the damage is done. Due to an educational goof, “shut up” is taboo in our classrooms.

But it’s okay. Since the phrase translates strangely into English, it makes for an amusing joke for the kids and myself. If I’ve got a student who won’t settle down and be quiet, I’ll just say, “you, chicken touch!” The first time I do that in a class, the whole room goes silent. They all think I’m crazy. If I’m not, why would I be talking about chickens in the middle of a class?

Then one of them gets it and starts laughing. Other students want in on the joke, so there’s a rapid-firing of “what?” in Korean from all angles. The kid who figured it out will tell the rest of them (with a well-earned air of superiority), “chicken touch is dalk chyeo.” Instantly, they all erupt in laughter, and a batch of them will start telling the kid I said it to, “teacher, chicken touch, dalk chyeo!”

Of course, the kid in question is none too keen on this, realizing I just told him to shut the fuck up in a way that can’t get me in any trouble. Since there’s nothing he can complain about, he’s got to sit there and take it.

Once a class is in on the joke, they’ll say “chicken touch” to each other if one of them gets noisy and is disrupting class. It’s great. It turns them all into little cops and comedians all at the same time.

Now…if I can just get them to stop flipping each other off and saying “fuck you” to each other….

(In case you’re wondering where I learned this, it was from a 3rd grader at my first school. O.o)