So, for those of us who can't read Korean (and who can't make sufficient sense of Google's machine translation of the article), what exactly is "Ttalnyeo" all about? Does it have an actual meaning, or is it just a nonsense word?
All I can figure from the article is that this image has been around since 2003, and the subject wasn't identified until September of 2006, when someone figured out she was a TV reporter. (If her name is mentioned, I don't recognize it as a name.)
It's easy to see why the image in and of itself became a meme, but if the article explains just why she was making that face while holding strawberries, then I can't tell.
I'm presuming it's short for 딸기 여자 or something of the like. 딸기 being strawberry, and 여자 being girl / woman / so on. 女 can be read as 녀 or 여 depending on its placement.
She was apparently some sort of widespread meme in Korea back in 2003 or something. Nobody knew who she was but it turned out she was some sort of 얼짱 (얼굴 짱, 얼굴 meaning face and 짱 meaning, among certain things, the best) reporter from Taiwan.
So, in short, a "BerryGirl" meme involving a good-looking female reporter. Still leaves the actual reason behind her pose & face a mystery, but it's something, thanks.
Native Korean speaker at your service. I have no knowledge of this meme, but the blog ChaoticKen linked gives some brief explanation. As ChaoticKen said, it's all about the woman making a strangely erotic face with strawberries held at suggestive poses. Nothing much more to say, actually.
As for the central doubt about why she was making that pose and face with the strawberries, that remains a mystery to this day. Probably just a mischievous photography.
(To elaborate a bit on ChaoticKen's first paragraph, 女 can be stuck at anything. 광(狂)+녀(女)=광녀(mad girl), 엘프(elf)+녀(女)=엘프녀(elf girl) and whatnot. I guess the name of the meme was shortened from 딸기녀(strawberry girl) to 딸녀. Berry girl would be an appropriate translation here. Technically speaking, the two words shouldn't be put together into BerryGirl.)
Lick_King said: Native Korean speaker at your service. I have no knowledge of this meme, but the blog ChaoticKen linked gives some brief explanation. As ChaoticKen said, it's all about the woman making a strangely erotic face with strawberries held at suggestive poses. Nothing much more to say, actually.
As for the central doubt about why she was making that pose and face with the strawberries, that remains a mystery to this day. Probably just a mischievous photography.
(To elaborate a bit on ChaoticKen's first paragraph, 女 can be stuck at anything. 광(狂)+녀(女)=광녀(mad girl), 엘프(elf)+녀(女)=엘프녀(elf girl) and whatnot. I guess the name of the meme was shortened from 딸기녀(strawberry girl) to 딸녀. Berry girl would be an appropriate translation here. Technically speaking, the two words shouldn't be put together into BerryGirl.)
Is that what it meant? I shouldn't have flunked 한자 (Hanja) when I was a kid, but back then, I didn't see much use in it. I still don't see much use in it now, but I get teased by other koreans (who like to pinch to my face for it) call the fact my lack of knowledge on it is 'cute'. I guess growing up in the UK with a more British lifestyle than most native British people, has some heavy influence on me. Thanks for the clearing up on that Lick (on a side note I understand 한글 (Hangul) I'm not an idiot).
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