That's one ugly baby!

[middy]

I had a Korean friend over for dinner last weekend and he said he recently attended a birthday party for a son of someone we both know. I mentioned how cute his baby was. He warned me to be careful not to say it often because in Korea they believe that if you say someone's child is cute , it will grow up to be ugly. He said that Koreans will actually say the baby is ugly for good luck. Is he pulling my leg? If this is true, what phrases can I use ? I am not telling someone they have a ugly child !

[manyakumi]

Long ago, when many babies died because the lack of medical supports they used to name their new born babies as like not precious thing at all. Since they believed that if they gave their baby a good name then the evil spirits might take the babies lives away.
That's why Koreans celebrate a baby's 1st birthday as a big ceremony of whole family.

In same reason, that might be true what you've said somewhere in time though,
not so common thinking these days however.

Actually I've never heard that kind of things before.

[shanshanchua]

These superstitions are very Chinese, but I'm not surprised Koreans do it too. Chinese people used to give their children names like 'dog' so that the demons will think they are not precious and so spare them...

My mother tells me not to say a baby is well-behaved or chubby, cos if I say that, the babies will suddenly turn into yelling monsters or half-starved skeletons (I'm exaggerating of course, but you get the picture).. I dont think most modern parents hold to these superstitions, but I'll be more careful with what I say if the babies' grandparents were around..

[theresa]

yep i agree with shanshan. cuz my mum also says not to comment that babies are fat because they will then become thin. haha.

[Chris1]

When in doubt, it's probably better just to say nothing at all. Or, perhaps 아! 아기다!