In one of my classes, we were discussing the fact that English has a plethora of vocabulary terms for young animals:
cat – kitten
lion – cub
goat – kid
pig – piglet
duck – duckling
etc.
Then I asked, “so what’s the term for a baby dog?”
All Koreans know the word “puppy,” but they don’t necessarily use it, semantically, as in English – it seems to just mean a cute dog (admittedly English can do the same thing, too). I assumed someone could think of this word, though.
Without even a pause, however, a bold seventh-grader raised his hand.
“Yes?” I said.
“Son of a bitch.”
Brilliant. I laughed for a few minutes.
Unrelatedly, a picture of the Ilsan power generation plant, on the east end of town, taken from standing across the street from the Costco. I was struck by the stark tree and the grey scudding clouds. The picture isn’t that good, though. Just random.
