# 천만에요



## idialegre

In an article about a man who drove all the way from Korea to Portugal in a minibus with his wife and three kids, I read this exchange:

“아이들이 세계 곳곳을 누비고 왔으니 영어는 잘하겠지요?” 최씨는 “천만에요. 그냥 놀러 갔다 왔는데요. 같은 또래보다 뒤졌어요”라고 답한다. 그 역시 1년 넘게 별다른 직업 없이 지내고 있다. 하지만 뿌듯하다.

I don't quite understand the usage of 천만에요 here.  I'm familiar with it as a response to 감사합니다 (or similar expressions of thanks,) but that doesn't seem to be the case here. Can someone tell me what the best English translation for it would be in this situation?


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## Kross

Your kids must speak English very well because they traveled all around the globe?

No way(천만에요).

The general idea behind the 천만에요 expression is a denial to what has been mentioned just before. So it can work for both situations.


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## idialegre

Thanks!


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## 조금만

Kross said:


> Your kids must speak English very well because they traveled all around the globe?
> 
> No way(천만에요).
> 
> The general idea behind the 천만에요 expression is a denial to what has been mentioned just before. So it can work for both situations.




"No way" is a bit too abrupt as a translation though. It sounds like a rather rude claim that the conversation partner has just said something ridiculous or outrageous. To capture the tone of the Korean in this use of the expression, we need something like "I wouldn't say that", or "Not really". (then : "They've just been on a few vacation trips / They've only been abroad as tourists").


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