The middle-schoolers were taking a test today. They are mostly multiple-choice tests. Students have various strategies for coming up with random numbers when they don’t know the answer – i.e., how to choose a), b), c) or d). My favorite is using their pen as a sort of die – throwing it down on the desk surface and letting how it points determine which letter answer to choose.
But another method is to use the Korean version of eeney-meeney-miney-moe, which goes as follows, in it’s most complete version (the kids mostly seem to use various abbreviations of this):
코카코라 맛있다
맛있으면 또 먹아
또 먹으면 배탈나
딩동댕동댕!
척척박사님 알아
맞혀주세요
딩동댕동댕
The content of the rhyme is something to do with the deliciousness of Coca-Cola, drinking it, and getting indigestion. How did the Coke Corp manage this bit of viral advertising? Is it beneficial to them? Who knows…
Referencing this rhyme is a short-hand way to reference the fact that students are overwhelmed by the test and thusly using random-number-generation to fill in the answers.
One of my students was saying, “Oh, Teacher! I can’t.”
I said, “코카코라 맛있다” (i.e. the first line of the rhyme: ko-ka-kol-la mas-siss-ta = Coca-Cola has great taste).
Quick as can be, the student came back: “아니, 맛없다” (a-ni, mas-eops-da = No, [it] doesn’t have great taste).
Indeed.
