#67. 현타 -- Just what was I doing?

Sexual references are rife in the Korean internet scene. Some of them are hilariously clever, while some of them are downright foul and makes the listeners cringe. If you think that English profanity is bad... Well, make sure that you stay on the squeaky clean side of the Korean internet!

But there are also some expressions that are almost cute, like the expression "현자타임."

The meaning of this expression, originally used by only men (I'll explain why in a second), can be easily guessed by any Korean. It breaks up easily into two parts, "현자" and "타임."

"현자" means "wise man." The letter "현" is Chinese for "wisdom," as in "현명" meaning "wise." The letter "자" is Chinese for "man." For example, "기자" means "reporter." Although this word is very rarely used in everyday life, you would often see this word appear in fantasy novels, for example, to describe the man who lives alone in the wilderness, leading an austere life, in search for truth. The protagonist probably needs to pay a visit to this man at some point in order to realize something very deep.


"타임," of course, is the Koreanization of the English word "time."

So, putting the two words together, the slang word "현자타임" means "the time of the wise man." You can also tell that it probably has a humorous nuance, because it combines an English word and a Korean word (since there are almost no standard Korean word that should mix with English, when these kinds of combinations appear in Korean slang, the Koreans are almost always trying to be funny. They're kind of trying to play the part of the dumb arrogant jerk, who opts to use simple English words -- for example, "time" -- in lieu of a Korean word -- "시간.")

Now, this word was originally used by the Korean men to describe the feeling of calmness and the lack of sexual libido right after ejaculation. Of course, the wise men would abstain from worldly sins such as sex (they probably don't ever feel the need to have sex, right?), and every man gets to feel just as holy and austere as the wise men right after having ejaculated.

I'd say that Yoda qualifies as a wise man. Learned, insightful, wise, and probably doesn't care about trivial things like sex.

So, the Korean internet users, in their usual vulgar manner, would often type out:

"현자타임 왔다." (The hour of the wise men has come.)

Which was initially taken to mean that they had just masturbated (after perhaps seeing a particularly lewd post somewhere on the internet).

Sometimes, 짤방 like this will substitute the word "현자타임."

But here's the thing. If you think about what's going on here, this expression really should apply to a wider variety of situation than just sex or masturbation. In both cases, you're basically having a moment of insanity/euphoria/clouded judgement, and after that moment passes, you regain your sanity and your perspective on the things around you. It doesn't have to be sex; it could be the moment of wild partying, maybe you went crazy with your makeup experiment, or you were really hungry and you devoured everything in your sight.

Then at some point, you realize that you were slightly crazy, and the feeling of slight shame creeps in.

And the expression "현자타임 왔다" was just too good not to use.

In a delicate balance between not wanting to use such a sexual expression, and the desire to use such an appropriate expression, the Koreans seem to have decided to use its abbreviation, "현타." Most Koreans, in non-sexual context that describes a moment of insanity and the ensuing feeling of guilt, would say:

"현타 왔다."

Of course, this word is still also used to describe the post-coital calmness/sadness/whatever, although it seems that the full neologism "현자타임" is often used in sexual context, and "현타" is often used in a more general context (partly because you could also claim that "현타" means "현실자각 타임," or "coming to terms with reality time"). In any case, I don't think there will be much confusion with regards to what the speaker is talking about.

As for when this word is appropriate, I would say that with people close to your own age, "현타" is always a safe bet. If you're male and you want to use the word in a sexual context with your male friends, "현자타임" should also be fine. In other contexts, maybe I'd be a little wary of using it depending on my familiarity with the listeners just to avoid awkward moments (although it's not really that offensive). In any case, this is real slang that started (and mostly stayed) among the younger generation who spend a significant portion of their days on the internet.