Comments on: Bye, Bye, Traditional Measurements

By: Max Watson

Max Watson — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 04:03:42 +0000

The problem with pyeong measurements isn’t so much the non-international unit as much as the policy of quoting apartments and officetels in pyeong, when that measurement isn’t anywhere near the actual size of the space. Apparently the quoted measurement includes shared areas like hallways.

By: dogbertt

dogbertt — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:07:04 +0000

If the foreigner asks for “일”근 instead of “한”근, the 아줌마 may just well chuckle a bit.

By: dda

dda — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 13:39:03 +0000

(unlike Breen, I never heard of it while living in Japan)

The equivalent unit in .jp is the tsubo 坪, not the 畳 [jō] as someone said above [1 jō == 1/2 a tsubo]. Note that 坪 in Korean is read, yeah, you got it, pyeong…

By: Socius: A Daejeon Community

Socius: A Daejeon Community — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 03:40:03 +0000

The Pyeong is Dead….

Over at the Marmot’s Hole, Robert Koehler picked up on a story in the Korean Times on the Government’s policy to eliminate the measurements of pyeong, inbun and geun. We’ll have to wait and see just how successful this policy is.
……

By: sanshinseon

sanshinseon — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 01:49:43 +0000

Damn, took me all these years to start automatically thinking of room/home sizes in pyeong, and then…

I thought its origin was the size of a Japanese-style tatami (rice-straw) floor-mat. No?

By: sewing

sewing — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:20:45 +0000

Sorry, let me fix the links: I could see a lot of room for mismeasurement in pyeong, unless surveyors, contractors, and realtors walk around with ja measuring sticks (1 ja being just a little over a foot or 30 cm (link), and there being 6 ja square or 36 square ja in a pyeong (link)). If folks are measuring in metres, calculating the area, then converting to pyeong, there’s potential for error. The move to metres would make sense from that point of view.

By: sewing

sewing — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:17:39 +0000

I could see a lot of room for mismeasurement in pyeong, unless surveyors, contractors, and realtors walk around with ja measuring sticks (1 ja being just a little over a foot or 30 cm (), and there being 6 ja square or 36 square ja in a pyeong (link)). If folks are measuring in metres, calculating the area, then converting to pyeong, there's potential for error. The move to metres would make sense from that point of view.

By: SomeguyinKorea

SomeguyinKorea — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:07:11 +0000

“but is always interesting to see the reaction of the ajumah when the foreigner orders in “근””

I’ve been doing it for 10 years and I’ve never gotten anything but the same reaction one of the Korean customers gets.

The ‘Korean age’ thing, though, is frustrating. My son thinks he’s two years older than he really is (he was born late in the year).

By: slim

slim — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 11:42:59 +0000

Will Korean age be scrapped, too? That would clear up a lot of needless confusion.

By: globalvillageidiot

globalvillageidiot — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 09:38:43 +0000

“일근” of ground beef - now Australian or NZ and maybe soon again to be American - has always been the perfect amount for making a big batch of spaghetti sauce, or a smaller sized chili. It is just as easy to order 600 grams instead, but is always interesting to see the reaction of the ajumah when the foreigner orders in “근”. (It might also just be their reaction to a guy - foreign or not - and his kid doing the shopping minus wife/mom!)

I suspect it will be quite some time before these terms fall out of use, despite what the posted price may be.