The statement, which was written in first person, took many by surprise – firstly for its radical stance and secondly for its vocabulary. Uses of words like “dotard” made people rush to the dictionary, and the word is now going viral on social media.
do·tard (dōdərd) noun
A word you didn’t previously know existed, but googled today and said, “Damn, that’s pretty accurate.”— Funny Or Die (@funnyordie) September 22, 2017
The Oxford English Dictionary defines “dotard” as “an old person, expecially one who has become weak or senile.”
But does “늙다리 미치광이,” which is the North Korean expression Kim Jong-un used in his statement, actually mean “dotard?” Below are some of the North Korean expressions in Kim Jong-un’s statement that even native Korean speakers find unfamiliar, along with their comparison to the official translation by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency.
망탕 내뱉다
official translation: to utter
actual translation: to blurt recklessly
미치광이 나발을 불다
official translation: to make rude nonsense
actual translation: to bluntly speak lunatic speech
불망나니
official translation: a rogue
actual translation: a nasty person whose personality or act is awfully mean
늙다리 미치광이
official translation: a dotard
actual translation: an old lunatic (informal)
By Heewon Kim
