# Insulting Word: 좆도 jotto



## Egenglert

Okay, this one is a little difficult, because I know neither the English translation nor the Korean word, all I know is that it sounds like the Japanese「ちょっと」or "Chotto." I promise I'm not like a five-year-old trying to learn insults in other languages, just that I accidentally said it once and nobody would tell me what it means, so I guess I'll start by telling you how this happened:

(This story is rather funny but, please no posts that just say "lol" etc.)

I was in Seoul, South Korea in the summer of 2009. I was visiting a friend who was an exchange student at my school two years before, but had since moved back to Seoul. So, we are at a very nice restaurant in Inasadong called Min's Place (which I highly recommend to anybody going to or living in Korea) and Ami's sister asked me if I spoke any Japanese, well, I hadn't started taking Japanese yet (I was in between high school and going to my university) so I said "Chotto" (Japanese: A little). Keep in mind, the only Korean I knew was from a 50 page phrasebook that I picked up in my local bookstore a day earlier. And then I looked at Ami, who had just put her hand over her mouth to cover up a smile and was looking at something behind me. I turned my head to see the waitress who was behind me turned around so we wouldn't see her face, laughing really, really hard. We're talking she was laughing so hard that you could see the water pitcher in her hand shaking, the her shoulders were shaking too, and at one point the waitress was laughing so hard that she had to put the water pitcher down and hold her forehead with one hand. By now we all were laughing along with the waitress. But, this was getting to the point where I stood up and offered the waitress my chair and glass of water to help her calm down. When she finally caught her breath, she explained that she was not expecting me to be able to say such an insulting word with such great pronunciation, to which I sheepishly replied "Eung... Kamsahamnida." The waitress got up from my chair, took her pitcher and continued going around the restaurant, but whenever she made eye contact with me, she would try to force down the smile and continue on. Honestly, I have never seen anybody laugh so hard in my life.

So if you know what word I said, please write it in both the Hangeul and Latin scripts. Thank you.


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## kenjoluma

좆도 (jotto)

This insulting word (actually it's a small part of one phrase) has a history. There's a lot of theories but, at least, its etymology goes back to World War II, the Japanese Colonisation era. What does it mean? Hmm. Do you really have to know? 

Actually it's 좆도 모르다. Which means, '(someone) don't know nothing'. But there is a male genital involved in this expression. Take a hint, my friend.  Or, it could be '좆도 없다' which means 'there's nothing (no sh*t) at all'. Either way, it's an expression that you are frustrated by someone, something or certain situation which does not provide a satisfying outcome.

I think your pronunciation ちょっと　sounded ジョット or something (cho vs. jo). Well, anyway, I highly encourage not even think about saying it in Korea.


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## 경상남도로 오이소

A Korean columnist Cho Hwa Yoo wrote a column in his blog about embarrasment about the word jot. 

A English woman came to Korea for a year as a English teacher. She told the class to "jot down their thoughts" and that got some students embarrassed and titillate the imagination since the word reminded them of korean word, related to "down there"

"Not a jot" is the other expression that easily get Koreans confused.


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## AlJaahil

I'm reminded of the colloquial/vulgar expression in North American English, "You don't know d*ck." (i.e. You know nothing at all, you're an idiot.)


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