-처럼 is one of the ways to make a direct comparison (simile) in Korean. In English, it corresponds to the preposition “like,” or to the conjunction “like” or “as if …”
- You can add -처럼 right after a noun (or a pronoun), to use as a preposition:
- 그 형사는 나를 그림자처럼 따라다닌다 = The detective follows me like my shadow.
- 나처럼 이렇게 해봐 = Try to do it this way like me.
- If you add -처럼 to – 것, the -것처럼 forms an adverbial clause that corresponds to “as if …” or the conjunction “like …”
- 총맞은 것처럼 정신이 너무 없어 = I can’t think of anything, like I’m hit by a bullet.
- 내가 마지막 사랑인 것처럼 키스해줘요 = Kiss me as if I were your last love (like I’m your last love.)
In the song “마지막처럼” by Blackpink, the “hottest” girl group shows both ways to use -처럼 as I marked in its lyrics. In the fourth stanza, they articulate the words with -처럼 as superbly as they dance, of course. But in the fifth stanza where they say “마지막처럼,” you will notice their pronunciation sounds rather like “마지막처덤,” changing 럼 into 덤, if you listen carefully. I advise you NOT to mimic this funny pronunciation. It is one of those comedy tricks to make fun of a handicapped person who can’t articulate very well, making so-called “혀 짧은 소리” (literally, making sounds with a short tongue). Ordinary Koreans would find someone who pronounces 처덤 undeniably dumb, or funny at best. Blackpink singers look so hot and they sound super cute. But emulate their Korean pronunciation at your own risk.
Many K-Pop songs by idol groups tend to employ similar intentional linguistic aberrations and unclear articulation, to just sound cute or creative, which you would not even be able to detect as a beginning student of Korean. This is why some of their lyrics, if not all, should not be used for language learning purposes, albeit wonderful musical quality and entertainment value. Undoubtedly, this issue poses a challenge to using K-Pop for Korean language education purposes.
Men always want to be a woman’s first love. Women like to be a man’s last romance.
Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900)
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