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submitted 10 months ago by yogthos@lemmygrad.ml to c/genzedong@lemmygrad.ml
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[-] WaterBowlSlime@lemmygrad.ml 34 points 10 months ago

Why does everyone think North Koreans call Kim Jong Un "dear leader" or whatever? Is it a misleading translation of Korean honorifics or official titles or something? I know the main reason is bigotry, but this is so pervasive that I wanna know where it came from.

[-] SpaceDogs@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 9 months ago

It would be cool if someone who knew Korean could confirm this for us, but in my opinion I don’t think it’s that strange to call people “dear” in general. Didn’t FDR refer to Stalin with “my dear” in his letters to him? I don’t find that weird. Also it could very well be a cultural thing too, some are just “warmer” than others. I mean, this example isn’t the same, but I thought it was hilarious when Hakim called Putin “habibi.” Maybe it’s just me, though, I like sweetness.

[-] WaterBowlSlime@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 9 months ago

The particular phrasing that gets thrown around is extremely cultish in English (dear leader, glorious leader, supreme leader, etc.) which is why westerners keep repeating it. It doesn't come off as a term of endearment, more like subservience. I dunno what Koreans say in Korean and whether it carries the same connotations though (probably not).

[-] SpaceDogs@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 9 months ago

Yeah that makes sense. In my political science classes when Authoritarian governments are brought up the term “supreme leader” is used a lot so maybe I’m used to it. Then again it very well might be a language barrier with tonal contexts (how they say it). I can’t recall a time when a Western leader was ever referred to as “supreme leader”…

[-] WaterBowlSlime@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 9 months ago

Yeah, Aria mentioned how "prime minister" is the same thing but with neutral connotations. It's another case of using good words to describe ourselves and bad words to antagonize our targets.

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this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2024
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