#20. 안드로메다 -- What is this, I don't even

So, I'm in the process of experimenting with my blog's layout. I'm not convinced that what I have now is better than what I had before, but it turns out that HTML is difficult to learn, and no template perfectly fits my dream. I'm going to continue to experiment for the next while, so if my blog is out of order, please visit again in a few minutes! Also soliciting any kind of advice and help that you can give on how to make my blog more readable, and more navigate-able (leave them in the comments below!) This is my first time blogging and I think the inexperience is definitely showing. Sigh. I promise that I'll improve. I also got a Twitter account! You can follow my Twitter account here.

Moving onto the actual post...

For some weird reason, every Korean knows about the Andromeda galaxy. This knowledge of the Andromeda galaxy is such a staple in our everyday life that there is even a neologism to honour this galaxy. In everyday Korean conversations, "안드로메다" means "very far away." For example, I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, who used the following brilliant exaggeration:

여가시간은 안드로메다로 관광보냈지 (I sent my free time on a trip to the Andromeda galaxy.)

 She was trying to tell me that she was so busy that her free time could have gone on a trip to the Andromeda galaxy, and she wouldn't know. So by sending something on a trip to the Andromeda galaxy, the speaker is telling me that she has none of that something, in a very strong negation. Just saying that "I have no free time" is nowhere as strong as "All of my free time is having some fun in the Andromeda galaxy."

 Knowing this, we can try using it in many different contexts. If someone cuts the line in front of you while you're waiting for the metro, you could tell them:

이봐요, 매너는 안드로메다로 관광보냈어요? (Hey, are your manners having fun on the Andromeda galaxy?)

If you're about to go into a haunted castle with your friends, and you want to appear tough, you could tell your friends:

무서움 따위는 안드로메다로 보내버렸지 (I sent my fear away to the Andromeda galaxy.)

If you feel that Andromeda is a teensy bit too far for what you're trying to say (because, who is not scared of going into the haunted castle, really?), you could maybe settle for not necessarily the Andromeda galaxy, but just out of our own galaxy, which is the Milky Way galaxy. You could have said instead:

무서움 따위는 은하수 너머로 보내버렸지 (I sent my fear away beyond the Milky Way.)

 Again, you could be creative and replace the Andromeda galaxy by other things that are sufficiently far away (Jupiter, Pluto, or Asteroid XXIV, whatever it is, are all good candidates, as are a bunch of other things).

While this expression is not offensive at all (you would sometimes see this expression in some TV shows), because of the gross exaggeration, I would not say that this is necessarily appropriate for the elders.