# 쓰다듬다, pat, touch, tap, rub



## GoldenClock

One of the questions for our midterm exams in our school was the following

'학생의 머리를 쓰다듬어라'
Complete the sentence so that it has the same meaning.
'___ a student ___ ___ ___.'

(So please note that the question asks you to translate from Korean to English.)

'쓰다듬다' translates to 'stroke, pet'
according to naver dot com(the most commonly used website in Korea)'s Korean-to-English dictionary.

The expected answer was 'Pat a student on the head,"
but the teachers considered 'Tap~' and 'Touch~' to be correct as well.

My answer was 'Rub~.'

*So my question is, considering that the word choice in the question was '쓰다듬다,' (which, as mentioned above, translates to 'pet, stroke') if 'Tap~' and 'Touch~' are good enough to be answers, isn't 'Rub~' good enough/even closer?*


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## kenjoluma

영어로 Rub이라고 하면 조금 이상하지 않나요? 한국어의 '쓰다듬다'보다 좀 더 동작이 길고 느린 느낌이라고 생각해요. 램프의 요정 지니를 부를 때 램프를 문지르거나, 매끈하게 하기 위해 사포로 표면을 문지르거나, 누군가에게 안마를 해 줄 때의 그런 긴 동작 (아니면 약간의 성적인 느낌까지도)을 포함하는 단어라 한국어의 '쓰다듬다'와는 어울리지 않아 보여요. (제 생각일 뿐)

솔직히 Tap도 이상하네요. Tap은 아주 짧은 시간 동안 '탁탁' 치는 느낌이 강하지 않을까요. '두드리다' 정도? 동시에 그런 동작의 결과로서 뭔가 '탁탁' 소리가 난다는 느낌도 들고요.

Tap이나 Rub을 쓸 거면 차라리 'touch'를 선택하겠어요. 가장 옳은 답은 아무래도 'pat'이 되겠네요.

'Stroke'는... 확실한 건 북미에서는 저렇게 안 쓸 거예요. '쓰다듬다'라는 의미로 stroke를 쓰는 건 제가 알고 있기로는 영국 쪽으로 알고 있어요.


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## GoldenClock

kenjoluma said:


> 영어로 Rub이라고 하면 조금 이상하지 않나요? 한국어의 '쓰다듬다'보다 좀 더 동작이 길고 느린 느낌이라고 생각해요. 램프의 요정 지니를 부를 때 램프를 문지르거나, 매끈하게 하기 위해 사포로 표면을 문지르거나, 누군가에게 안마를 해 줄 때의 그런 긴 동작 (아니면 약간의 성적인 느낌까지도)을 포함하는 단어라 한국어의 '쓰다듬다'와는 어울리지 않아 보여요. (제 생각일 뿐)
> 
> 솔직히 Tap도 이상하네요. Tap은 아주 짧은 시간 동안 '탁탁' 치는 느낌이 강하지 않을까요. '두드리다' 정도? 동시에 그런 동작의 결과로서 뭔가 '탁탁' 소리가 난다는 느낌도 들고요.
> 
> Tap이나 Rub을 쓸 거면 차라리 'touch'를 선택하겠어요. 가장 옳은 답은 아무래도 'pat'이 되겠네요.
> 
> 'Stroke'는... 확실한 건 북미에서는 저렇게 안 쓸 거예요. '쓰다듬다'라는 의미로 stroke를 쓰는 건 제가 알고 있기로는 영국 쪽으로 알고 있어요.





글쎄요 저도 미국생활할 때 경험상 정의를 써보자면 이런 문맥에서 'pat'은 '(좋은의도로) 톡톡 두드려주다' 로 알고 있습니다.

'쓰다듬다'는 국어사전에 '손으로 살살 쓸어 어루만지다' 로 나오고요.

결론적으로 묻고싶은건

'쓰다듬다'를 영어로 번역할때
pat, tap, touch를 정답으로 인정 해준다면
rub도 충분히 옳은것 아닌가요?


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## kenjoluma

확실히 pat은 뭔가를 격려할 때 다른 사람의 등이나 어깨를 두들겨 주는 행위를 표현할 때 가장 많이 쓰긴 하지요. 하지만 tap보다는 '머리를 쓰다듬는' 행위에 어울리는 것 같아요. 같은 '두드림(?)'이지만, tap보다 pat이 더 맞는 것 같아요.


이렇게 원론적으로 들어가니까 저도 혼동이 오네요. 말씀하신 rub으로 돌아가서 얘기해 보자면... 글쎄요. tap이 맞다면 rub도 괜찮은 것 같기도 하고...;;;

그런데 저 문제로 돌아가서 () a student () () () 이라고 할 때, 어떻게 쓰시겠다는 거지요? (rub) a student (on) (the) (head) 라고 쓰실 건가요? 만약 그렇게 쓰게 된다면 pat의 의도 (격려, 귀여움, 사랑 등)가 완전히 없어지지 않을까요? 느낌도 매우 이상해 지고... 

또한 문장 구조 자체도 이상해지는 게, rub이라는 동사를 말씀하신 느낌으로 쓰려면 저런 식으로 많이 쓰지 않는 것 같아요. 그러니까, Rub 다음에 사물이나 신체 부위가 먼저 오지, 저런 식으로 뒤에 a student라는 사람이 오고 그 다음에 on 등을 쓰는 경우는 본 적이... 제 생각에는 없네요.


이 질문은 사실 한국어 관련한 질문이라기보다 영어 질문에 더 가까워 보이네요. 한 마디로, 제 능력 밖인 것 같습니다.


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## camden1004

GoldenClock 님의 말씀 이해가 가는 듯 합니다. Tap 과 Touch 도 정답으로 인정되는데 왜 Rub 는 아니냐는 거죠?

저는 아마 Stroke 만 정답으로 인정 했을 겁니다. 한국어의 '쓰다듬다' 와 가장 근접한듯 합니다만...

Pat 은 동물을 쓰다듬는다는 느낌이 강한 듯 하구요
Tap 은 kenjoluma 님 말씀대로 빠르게 톡톡 거리는 느낌이구요
Touch 는 말 그대로 '만지다' 
Rub 는 '문지르다' 에 가까운 듯 합니다.

도움이 되셨길..


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## wildsunflower

It will be easier if you consider the contexts in which those words can be used, rather than the dictionary or literal meanings of the words. If the teacher "rubs" the student, s/he will be accused of sexual harassment.


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## Mallarme

쓰다듬어라 is most like "stroke" in that it is a prolonged movement (not the more brisk pat, pat) and expresses affection.  If you stroke a person on the head, it shows affection.  A teacher might stroke a student (very young) on the head to show affection.  

A pat also can show affection, but a pat, by an older person/teacher, on the head of a younger person/student, most often expresses approval, a way of saying "you are a good student/boy/girl" or "you did well."

My question is:

If you were given the command, 학생의 머리를 쓰다듬어라, would you stroke or pat?

stroke (the head) - move the hand across the surface of the head 

pat (the head) move the hand up and down touching the top of the head


Examples of head rubbing:

You can rub someone's head with a towel to dry their hair.

I can rub my own head if I bumped it and it hurts.


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## wildsunflower

Mallarme, thanks for the detailed explanation. For your question, "stroke" seems correct. "pat" seems equivalent to "다독이다"/"다독거리다".


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## GoldenClock

Alright I see what you guys are trying to say.

But there's a difference between 'sounding natural' and 'having the same meaning.'
I'd like to remind you that the question was :
Complete the sentence so that it has the same meaning.

Let me rephrase my question then
Out of the words 'pat' 'touch' 'tap' 'rub',
would 'rub' be the least close to the meaning of the word '쓰다듬다'?


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## wildsunflower

I believe a meaning of a word comes from the context in which the word is used. My answer is "no" to your question. Sorry. Perhaps, you can talk with your teacher, and explain your understanding of the word. You may get a half point at least??


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## GoldenClock

wildsunflower said:


> I believe a meaning of a word comes from the context in which the word is used. My answer is "no" to your question. Sorry. Perhaps, you can talk with your teacher, and explain your understanding of the word. You may get a half point at least??



You mean 'no' to my first question? or to my 'rephrased' question?

If you mean 'no' to my rephrased question, that would mean I should get the full point, Because tap and touch got full points as well.

If you mean mean 'no' to my first question, 
would that mean you believe 'tap' and 'touch' are both closer to '쓰다듬다' than 'rub'?

Does 'tap a student on the head' have the same meaning and sound natural?
How many people would 'tap' when given the command '쓰다듬어라' anyway?


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## wildsunflower

Sorry I wasn't clear. 


> If you mean meant 'no' to my first question,
> would that mean you believe 'tap' and 'touch' are both closer to '쓰다듬다' than 'rub'?


 --> This is what I meant.



> Does 'tap a student on the head' have the same meaning and sound natural?


The same meaning as what? "Rub"? No. "Tap" and "rub" are different forms of body movement. They were explained well in the previous posts. If your teacher taps you on the head, that can mean many things. "Tap" is just an action of gaining your attention. She may be giving you compliments on your performance, or she may be warning you to be quiet. But, it is very unlikely that your teacher will rub your head.


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## GoldenClock

wildsunflower said:


> Sorry I wasn't clear.
> --> This is what I meant.
> 
> The same meaning as what? "Rub"? No. "Tap" and "rub" are different forms of body movement. They were explained well in the previous posts. If your teacher taps you on the head, that can mean many things. "Tap" is just an action of gaining your attention. She may be giving you compliments on your performance, or she may be warning you to be quiet. But, it is very unlikely that your teacher will rub your head.




Here's a video with the title '쓰다듬'(The word given in the question)
http://blog.naver.com/carmiana/150095316736

And again, there's a difference between 'sounding natural' and 'having the same meaning.'

Would 'tap' still be closer to '쓰다듬다' than 'rub'?


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## Mallarme

GoldenClock said:


> One of the questions for our midterm exams in our school was the following
> 
> '학생의 머리를 쓰다듬어라'
> Complete the sentence so that it has the same meaning.
> '___ a student ___ ___ ___.'
> 
> (So please note that the question asks you to translate from Korean to English.)
> 
> '쓰다듬다' translates to 'stroke, pet'
> according to naver dot com(the most commonly used website in Korea)'s Korean-to-English dictionary.
> 
> The expected answer was 'Pat a student on the head,"
> but the teachers considered 'Tap~' and 'Touch~' to be correct as well.
> 
> My answer was 'Rub~.'
> 
> So my question is, considering that the word choice in the question was '쓰다듬다,' (which, as mentioned above, translates to 'pet, stroke') if 'Tap~' and 'Touch~' are good enough to be answers, isn't 'Rub~' good enough/even closer?



I'm answering your question that I put in red.

Yes, if "tap" and "touch" are "good enough" then "rub" should be "good enough" because

tap a student on the head
touch a student on the head
rub a student on the head

none of them MEAN 쓰다듬다.  If the teacher accepted incorrect answers "touch" and "tap" then he should be fair and accept another incorrect answer "rub."




GoldenClock said:


> But there's a difference between 'sounding natural' and 'having the same meaning.'
> I'd like to remind you that the question was :
> Complete the sentence so that it has the same meaning.



We were talking about the meaning.  None of the answers, including "pat," means 쓰다듬다. If you said

Touch the student on the head
Rub the student on the head
Tap the student on the head

English speakers will not understand the same meaning as 쓰다듬다.


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## GoldenClock

Okay so I showed this to my teacher and here's what she told me:

1. Although the word '쓰다듬다' was in the question, it was not the point of the question. 
2. At first she and the other teachers were only going to accept 'pat' but later agreed to accept 'tap' and 'touch' as well.

Just my opinion, but the question was misleading in this case.

Thank you all anyway for your help.


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