# 속담...



## moondeer

What is your take on the English translation of the following saying?

된장 맛으로 이불 속의 며느리를 들춰본다.


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## mink-shin

moondeer said:


> 된장 맛으로 이불 속의 며느리를 들춰본다.


Never have I heard of it. I cannot imagine any context in which I would use this proverb. Would you please give us the source of this proverb you have quoted?


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## moondeer

Hi, Mink-shin! Cute photo.

I am translating a document about soybeans, and this proverb came from a section about _doenjang_ proverbs. I did find it listed on a website of Korean proverbs, but the explanation was unsatisfying. I have heard different interpretations, which is why I asked here. I think it's probably old fashioned: maybe ask your mom or grandma? =)


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## mink-shin

Hi, Moondeer. I'm back.

I've just found this page.


> 된장 맛으로 이불 속의 며느리를 들춰본다. : 된장찌개는 은은한 불에 정성으로 끓여야 제 맛이 나듯, 남녀간의 정사(情事)도 은은하고 은밀해야 함을 비유하는 말. (Source : 다음 카페, 제이찬사)



The post to which I have linked says, "_Doenjang-jjigae_ should be simmered gently on low heat. Likewise, sex should be done in a gentle mood and secrecy."
Having read your post, I think that if I were you, who're translating a document about soybeans, I would translate as literally as I can and add some explanations to the literal translation, since it is a proverb not information, data or report.

*So I suggest :
There's a Korean proverb that says, _"If you taste Doenjang-jjigae made by your daughter in law, you can see beneath the blanket beneath which are she and her husband"_, which means "You can know about how their sexlife is, tasting her Doenjang-jjigae". It's based on the belief of Koreans that sex should be done in a gentle mood and secrecy, and on the fact that doenjang-jjigae should be simmered gently on low heat.

By the way, maybe almost all Korean people(Dare I say just _all_?) don't agree with the proverb these days. I think there's no _should_ in anyone's sexlife.

I hope it helps.

* It is not the literal meaning of the proverb. The literal translation would seem illogical to you. It would be more illogical than you'd expect because it's a proverb. Honestly, I cannot give you a 100% literal translation,(I tried, but it was too hard, so I gave up) though I have recommended you translate as literally as you can. There's no easy way to convey its literal meaning and implication, and its kernel the proverb really wants to mean at the same time in translating the proverb into English. Maybe someone else can do it for you. Unfortunately, I'm not good at English enough to do that perfectly. 

-edited some errors and removed redundant phrases


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## moondeer

Yes, Mink-shin, your reply helps a lot. It's perfect! Your answer is like what another friend of mine had mentioned. I've learned that the flavor of a daughter-in-law's _doenjang_ was very important to her household. This proverb offers a somewhat bawdy way of saying just that.

Another question I have is why would the _doenjang_ be simmered in secret? Do you think that refers to the fact that it would be cooked in a kitchen that is not part of the living quarters of the home? Or that it is stored in crocks outside? Or maybe there was no parallel secrecy about _doenjang_, but just that everyone considered "gentle" sex to also be "secretive."

Here's my translation and my explanation: “The flavor of the _doenjang_ gives you a glimpse of the daughter-in-law in between the sheets” (just as good _doenjang_ must be simmered gently and in secret, so too with sexual relations).


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## mink-shin

Hi, Moondeer.



moondeer said:


> Here's my translation and my explanation: “The flavor of the _doenjang_ gives you a glimpse of the daughter-in-law in between the sheets” (just as good _doenjang_ must be simmered gently and in secret, so too with sexual relations).


It's by far much better than mine. But, to me, doenjang means just one of the ingredients of doenjang-jjigae. I would use "-jjigae" in explanation


moondeer said:


> Do you think that refers to the fact that it would be cooked in a kitchen that is not part of the living quarters of the home?


That's what occurred to my mind when I found the post, a part of which I quoted(#4), and I've thought since then. This is a Korean traditional kitchen. 전통 부엌.jpg As you said, it's not part of living quarters of the house. I don't know how you feel about the picture I've linked to, but it seems, to me, isolated from other parts of the house. Honestly, for me, it's just idealizing to put the term '은밀하게', which mean secretly. Maybe Korean women who lived in Korean traditional house felt isolated cooking whatever it was.


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## moondeer

Thank you for the great suggestion of adding -jjigae. I forgot about that! 

Thanks, too, for your kind help!

Take care.


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