Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

When in Korea, you may find yourself at a bar quite often. The food is good and the drinks are generally cheap. If you run out of money however, your night may end. In today’s lesson, we will go over a phrase that may extend your night by one more drink. When at a bar in Korea, there is a phrase that may get you a few free things. Whether it be a free snack or a free drink, you have the ability to ask for it and as everyone loves free things, you want to learn today’s phrase.
Today’s phrase is 서비스 주세요 (seobiseu juseyo). One time slowly, it’s 서비스 주세요 (seobiseu juseyo). And now by syllable, 서-비-스 주-세-요 (seo-bi-seu ju-se-yo). And now one time fast, 서비스 주세요 (seobiseu juseyo). The first word of the phrase is 서비스 (seobiseu). This word is taken from the English word, service. Let’s hear it once slowly, 서비스 (seobiseu). And now by syllable, 서-비-스 (seo-bi-seu). This word as stated before is taken from the English word service but the word has evolved from the English meaning to mean something that is usually paid for but is free. We will get into a little more detail soon. The second half of the phrase is 주세요 (juseyo) which means please or to give. One time slowly, it’s 주세요 (juseyo). And now by syllable, 주세요 (juseyo). In this context, the meaning is closer to give.
So literally we have service give. I guess it can be interpreted as something like, give me something for free maybe, I don’t know. In any case, 서비스 (seobiseu) in Korean has evolved from its English counterpart, service. It’s become to mean something that is free. This is typically heard in bars. It may be a bit difficult to come across in other places of business. For some reason, bar owners are more willing to give free alcohol than store owners who are willing to give their stuff for free. I guess what it is is, more alcohol equals more spending. There are number of different ways to improve your chances of receiving 서비스 (seobiseu). For more on that, check out the PDF. I hope you are not under the impression that Korean bar owners are going to be throwing free drinks at you left and right. This is used sparingly but if the circumstances are right, you may get your free drinks or free food.
Okay. To close our today’s lesson, we’d like for you to practice what you’ve learned. I will provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out loud. You will have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So 화이팅 (hwaiting)!
Give me something for free - 서비스 주세요 (seobiseu juseyo).
All right, that’s going to do it for today.

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