# 웬수는 외나무 다리에서 만난다



## 조금만

I keep encountering the above phrase. From the contexts it's pretty clear that it's said when two people who haven't been expecting to meet one another have an encounter. In some instances, the speaker seems merely surprised and/or pleased, so it looks roughly like "fancy meeting you here!", in others it seems the encounter is far from welcome and the tone seems closer to English expressions like "Why, look what the cat brought in"  or "A bad penny always turns up."

I assume though that this is an allusion to a legend or folk tale. Can anyone explain who these two people were and what they were doing on that bridge? And maybe shed a bit more light on the range of meanings this saying has in modern Korean?


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## Gijoe

조금만 said:


> I keep encountering the above phrase. From the contexts it's pretty clear that it's said when two people who haven't been expecting to meet one another have an encounter. In some instances, the speaker seems merely surprised and/or pleased, so it looks roughly like "fancy meeting you here!", in others it seems the encounter is far from welcome and the tone seems closer to English expressions like "Why, look what the cat brought in" or "A bad penny always turns up."
> 
> I assume though that this is an allusion to a legend or folk tale. Can anyone explain who these two people were and what they were doing on that bridge? And maybe shed a bit more light on the range of meanings this saying has in modern Korean?


 
This isn't exactly form a legend but from the real life. In old time, in rural areas the bridges were only made from wood and because of lack of skill or out of convinenience, people use the whole trunk with a cut on top, which make people to walk on easier. 
So, not two people could pass by on the narrow trunk and when especailly, if you see someon you don't want to see, it becomes a more difficult situation, since there is no way not to interact with eachother's enemy.
Thus, people say until now when they can't avoid the situations in which you have to encounter your enemy.
(at the same time you could use it in a humorous way with your close friends. If you use it to not so close people, they will be confused. And if you use too much, even the close friends will assume you have some issues with them)


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## DefactoAmbassador

*웬수 does not mean 'enemy'. **웬수's** pronunciation is 'wen-su'; the pronunciation of 'enemy' (actually it means more like an 'adversary') in Korean is 'won-su'. I can't write Korean with this keyboard, sorry. Anyway **웬수 =/= enemy.*


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## Anais Ninn

To be precise, 웬수, which does mean "enemy", is a variation or a dilect of 원수 used in Jeolla province. 

I think Gijoe's explanation is spot-on.

Anais


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