# 멍...



## Fra Parvus

Hi,

Could someone help me out please? I'm looking at a poster of some kind showing a guy on the top half who says: "돌직구, 너 마음에 드는데, 사귀자!" and a girl below hiding her face in her hands, saying "멍...".

What does "멍..." mean here? Is it the beginning of some phrase that a Korean would understand just by hearing the first syllable? Or is it just the word 멍 and dot dot dot?

Thanks in advance.


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## mink-shin

It is an expression used when describing someone who is vacant or doesn't know what to say. Usually people don't speak it out.

I think that the reason the word is described as spoken by her is that because it is poster so the poster maker thought it was better way to described it as spoken.

I never speak just "멍...".


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## boomluck

멍하다 means to be vacant in mind or to pause for a moment because the situation is (lightly) shocking.

멍... without -하다 is a common expression used among many people. Especially, young people use it online.

돌직구, 너 마음에 드는데, 사귀자!
speaking straight-forward, you are my favorite, let's date!

Whoever hears that pick-up line would pause for a moment. 멍... (or sometimes 머엉...)


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## Hyperpolyglot

what if the girl has a bruise on her face? That's why she hides her face with her hands, and then said "멍..." kinda murmur to herself that she has a bruise on her face and kinda shy to show her face to the guy?

Also, on a side note, lately I learned an interjection which is kinda similar I guess, if this 멍 is used as an interjection, not as a bruise, that other interjection is 엥, is it similar? Dictionary shows "Oof!, Oh!, Hmph!"


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## mink-shin

Hyperpolyglot said:


> what if the girl has a bruise on her face?


Haha nice guess.


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## vientito

What gets me puzzled most is the use of ㄴ데 right there. Usually when calling for such usage we either have a pause for intended continuation, or direct contrast of two different circumstances. But as i look over that statement, i do not get a sense that he is to juxtapose two aspects. Liking someone and with an intent to date them is such logical follow thru i do not feel there is any need to stick in a ㄴ데 right there. 

On a different vein, how do we differentiate 멍대리다 and 멍하다?


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## boomluck

Hyperpolyglot said:


> Also, on a side note, lately I learned an interjection which is kinda similar I guess, if this 멍 is used as an interjection, not as a bruise, that other interjection is 엥, is it similar? Dictionary shows "Oof!, Oh!, Hmph!"



While 멍 as an interjection means to pause, 엥 means to doubt. 

For example,
A: Mike is coming right now. He said it would take five minutes to get here. 
B: 엥? Yesterday, he said he won't go with us today.


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## Hyperpolyglot

vientito said:


> What gets me puzzled most is the use of ㄴ데 right there. Usually when calling for such usage we either have a pause for intended continuation, or direct contrast of two different circumstances. But as i look over that statement, i do not get a sense that he is to juxtapose two aspects. Liking someone and with an intent to date them is such logical follow thru i do not feel there is any need to stick in a ㄴ데 right there.
> 
> On a different vein, how do we differentiate 멍대리다 and 멍하다?



I think you are confusing the pause of -ㄴ데 wirh -거든


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## CharlesLee

vientito said:


> What gets me puzzled most is the use of ㄴ데 right there. Usually when calling for such usage we either have a pause for intended continuation, or direct contrast of two different circumstances. But as i look over that statement, i do not get a sense that he is to juxtapose two aspects. Liking someone and with an intent to date them is such logical follow thru i do not feel there is any need to stick in a ㄴ데 right there.
> 
> On a different vein, how do we differentiate 멍대리다 and 멍하다?



멍대리다.  

멍때리다. 

멍하다. 

멍때리다 is the slang of 멍하다 in Korean, acceptable in the spoken word.


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## CharlesLee

Hyperpolyglot said:


> what if the girl has a bruise on her face? That's why she hides her face with her hands, and then said "멍..." kinda murmur to herself that she has a bruise on her face and kinda shy to show her face to the guy?
> 
> Also, on a side note, lately I learned an interjection which is kinda similar I guess, if this 멍 is used as an interjection, not as a bruise, that other interjection is 엥, is it similar? Dictionary shows "Oof!, Oh!, Hmph!"



엥 implies a surprise and a little different from 멍. 멍 is a word root of verb '멍하다', so usually shows no reaction, idea. So it's 멍... in English as in "spaced out."

*Trust me it's a mimetic word for when spaced out, a daydream.

It's the same as 반짝반짝 when stars twinkle not based on the sound. We sing a song like "twinkle twinkle little star."*


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## Rance

It's hard to comment without actually seeing the poster.
But there are two phrases that were used because it's poster to describe the situation, but it would sound awkward if used in a normal conversation:
1) 돌직구
It's probably used to describe that the guy is being blunt and straightforward confession.
2) 멍..
This is a mimetic word to describe her reaction to the confession.
If someone says it upon a confession in a normal conversation, it would sound as awkward as someone saying "LOL" instead of laughing out loud in action.


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