# 상생의 먹을거리



## helgarol

Could somebody help me in finding the meaning of this expression?  I think that먹을거리 has something to do with the way to find food, but I am not sure.   Could it be “In searching for a permanent food”?


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## Kross

먹을거리 simply means food or something to eat. So it doesn't include any types of activity in search of food. 

상생의 먹을거리 literally means food for mutual benefits. But this expression can be meant a bit differently in the business industry.


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## helgarol

Thank you very much, Kross, It has been of a great help.  Could you also detail that different meaning in the bussines industry?


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## Kross

helgarol said:


> Could you also detail that different meaning in the bussines industry?



Big business men like Lee Gun-hee of Samsung Electronics often expressed their concerns over 미래 먹을거리. The expression literally means "food for the future". But its true meaning is new businesses. those tycoons believe that products they are selling will disappear in ten years. they feel pressured to find or invent new products.


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## helgarol

Thank you, Kross, it has been again of a great help, the Google source for 곤충 병원성 and details about tycoons’ thoughts.  The problem is, and it is still my doubt, that I have always thought that 거리  was related with WAY, DISTANCE, in its original meaning, and so, 먹을거리는 was about to a way to find food.  I have always thought that 먹을거리가 없다는것은 was meaning  to have no way to find food, I mean, being poor, be leaving in difficult conditions…. Now it is clear that I was wrong.  Isn’t it?


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## Kross

Now I understand why you asked this question. 거리 in 먹을거리 has nothing to do with a way or a road even though the word itself has the meaning as a basic one. ~거리 can be used to convert a verb to its noun form.

For example:
구경거리 (구경하다 -> 구경거리)
볼거리 (보다 -> 볼거리)


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## vientito

Kross said:


> Now I understand why you asked this question. 거리 in 먹을거리 has nothing to do with a way or a road even though the word itself has the meaning as a basic one. ~거리 can be used to convert a verb to its noun form.
> 
> For example:
> 구경거리 (구경하다 -> 구경거리)
> 볼거리 (보다 -> 볼거리)




Just a small point.  Since 거리 is used as a 의존명사 so technically there should be a space
between 먹을 & 거리.

By the way, there seems to be another close cousin of 먹을 거리:  먹거리 but I do not know if there is any subtle difference between the two at all


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## Kross

vientito said:


> Just a small point. Since 거리 is used as a 의존명사 so technically there should be a space between 먹을 & 거리.


 Yes, 거리 here is used as a 의존명사 which usually requires a space between the previous word of 거리 and 거리. According to 국립국어원, however, there is a few exceptions to the rule. When 거리 follows a noun, no space is needed between them like 반찬거리. And when it comes to 먹을거리, no space is also needed between 먹을 and 거리 because the whole expression has been registered in the Korean dictionary as one single word. 

 (source: http://twtkr.olleh.com/view.php?long_id=L1RroF )




vientito said:


> By the way, there seems to be another close cousin of 먹을 거리: 먹거리 but I do not know if there is any subtle difference between the two at all


 No, there is no difference between them in meaning. According to this article, when 먹거리 was more popular than 먹을거리 in the early 1990's and was about to push away its counterpart 먹을거리 out of the dictionary, 국립국어원 placed 먹거리 and 먹을거리 on the discussion table and unanimously chose only 먹을거리 as a standard Korean word. But this decision has still been controversial since then. For more detailed information on this matter, you are encouraged to read the full article the link below guides.

 (source: http://sgsg.hankyung.com/apps.frm/news.view?nkey=941&c1=99&c2=15 )


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