# Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.



## =jd=

Hey guys,

After watching the film "Oldboy", a particular phrase stuck in my head: Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.

I was wondering whether it would be possible to translate this in to Korean as I think it would make a good tattoo. Also, once translated can it be written vertically?

Thank you for your time and sorry if my questions sound a little stupid


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## by45

"웃어라. 온 세상이 너와 함께 웃을 것이다. 울어라. 너 혼자만 울게 될 것이다"
"oo seo rah. on se sahng yi neo wah haam kae oo seul geo shi dah. ool eoh rah. neoh hon jah maan ool ge del geo shi dah."

wow, it's hard to write it with English pronunciation.... 
(tip : you can pronounce "kae" as "Que" in Spanish...


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## cbt

Thank you very very much! I've been looking for this for weeks! And when I found this topic, I did not have much hope. But, whoa! You just did it in few hours! Thanks again..


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## Sladina

[Moderator note: Merged with the previous thread about the same topic. Cherine]

Hey guys
Please somebody translate it to Korean:
*Laugh, and the world laughs with you 
*
Thank you for your time and sorry if my question is a little stupid


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## cheersgh

*Laugh, and the world laughs with you.

*웃어요, 그러면 세상도 (너와 함께) 웃을거에요.


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## SaintJason

웃어라. 세상도 너와 함께 웃을 것이다. 

I just omitted and because it is not really necessary here.


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## Innocence27

note, this comes from the poem "Solitude" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
But can be heard in the movie "Old Boy" somewhere in the movie.
I can't reckon the exact korean words he used, but he definitely said this.

It was by off-voice with a raining background. Probably in the first 40 minutes of the movie. Too lazy to watch all over again just for this though~


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## Mallarme

cheersgh said:


> *Laugh, and the world laughs with you.
> 
> *웃어요, 그러면 세상도 (너와 함께) 웃을거에요.





SaintJason said:


> 웃어라. 세상도 너와 함께 웃을 것이다.
> 
> I just omitted and because it is not really necessary here.



웃어라 and 웃어요 in the translations are imperatives.

However, I think the "laugh" in the original English is not a command or an imperative statement, and you'll see this more clearly if you read the poem.  The whole line is not an exhortation to do something, but an observation about what happens in the world.  There is an ellipsis there:

 [You] laugh and the world laughs with you.

"You laugh and" really means "If you laugh, then".

So, a more accurate translation would be:

웃으면, 세상도 너와 함께 웃을 것이다.


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## Mara Kovacs

[Moderator note: Merged with the previous thread about the same topic. Cherine]

Hi everyone, I need help with one quote from the movie "Old Boy", it's about a fragment of an british poem called “Solitude” that says "Laugh, and the world laughs with you, weep, and you weep alone"

In the movie you can see a painting with this sentence written on it, and it is expressed like this: (1)

웃어라. 온 세상이 너와 함께 웃을 것이다.

울어라. 너 혼자 울  것이다

I also look for more translations (including this forum) and the same sentence was written like this: (2)

웃어라. 온 세상이 너와 함께 웃을 것이다.

울어라. 너 혼자만 울게 될 것이다

So, here you can see the difference between them:

웃어라. 온 세상이 너와 함께 웃을 것이다.

울어라. 너 혼자만 울게 될 것이다


Which is the correct one? The number 1 or 2? What is the difference between them? Needless to say that I dont speak korean at all, but I´m very interested in the answer, it is very important for me.

I hope you can explain it to me.

Thanks a lot for your help.


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## mink-shin

Mara Kovacs said:


> Which is the correct one? The number 1 or 2? What is the difference between them?


I don't find any *big* difference in meaning between those versions you've quoted. And I find both of them are fine.

Though there's, indeed, a little difference between them, it's kind of hard for me to explain exactly. So let me try to translate them into English.

This is my try.
i) 울어라. 너 혼자 울 것이다
-> Weep, and you weep alone.
ii) 울어라. 너 혼자만 울게 될 것이다
-> Weep, and it will turn out that it's only you who's weeping.

Let's wait for others' feedback together.


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## TeaJessie

Hi,

I'm not a Korean native, but to me, the first one sounds better.
My Korean colleague says it doesn't make much difference, let me try and break this down:
웃어라. 온 세상이 너와 함께 웃을 것이다.
"Laugh, and the world will laugh with you."
울어라. 너 혼자 울 것이다
"Cry, and you will cry alone."
Using the first translation maintains a certain consistency, It's about general truth.
The second one, 울어라. 너 혼자*만* 울*게 될* 것이다 introduces the idea of cause and consequence. If you cry, then you will do so alone. There's more of a morality to it.
It is preferential, though.


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## corvaccio

[Moderator note: Merged with the previous thread about the same topic. Cherine]
I am trying to shorten this phrase

웃어라. 온 세상이 너와 함께 웃을 것이다

something along "Smile, The world will smile"

I have tried a couple of approaches but none of them is very elegant. Any idea? Thanks!


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## ouuugg

It's a poetic expression. I've never heard of its variation, and that's because even a minute change in the expression would cause a tremendous damage in regard to its sound and sense.


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## ouuugg

For your information, the full expression might be "_웃어라. 온 세상이 너와 함께 웃을 것이다. 울어라. 너 혼자만 울게 될 것이다." _in a Korean movie, _*올드보이*_.

The original poem is _*Solitude*_ by _*Ella Wheeler Wilcox*_.


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