文化

정 — the untranslatable glue

There's a word for 'fondness built by time and favors.' It's 정.

解説は英語です。韓国語の行と意味は選んだ言語です。

정 (jeong) = deep affection grown from shared time, favors, meals, and mild annoyances. It's why your 아저씨 landlord slips you fruit.

You build 정 by showing up: sharing banchan, remembering birthdays, enduring each other's flaws. 미운 정, 고운 정 — even dislike ferments into attachment.

The opposite: 정 떨어지다 (jeong has drained away). When Koreans say there's no 정 left, the relationship is clinically dead.

この言い方

우리 정 많이 쌓였지?
uri jeong mani ssayeotji
We've built a lot of jeong, right?
이웃끼리 정이 있어야죠.
iutkkeuri jeongi isseoyajyo
Neighbors should have jeong.
미운 정 고운 정 다 들었어요.
miun jeong goun jeong da deureosseoyo
I've absorbed both the bitter and sweet jeong.
정이 떨어졌어요.
jeongi tteoreojyeosseoyo
The jeong has run dry.