As I’ve mentioned on my previous post, I’ve been using Korean Dramas to help me remember new words. Originally I was just concerned about the word 감정 (feeling, emotion, sentiment) and I came across a few scenes from Scent Of A Woman that used that word.
In a particularly “angsty” confrontation scene between Lee Yeon Jae (Kim Sun Ah) and Lim Se Kyeong (Seo Hyo Rim), I found an interesting exchange of dialogue.
연재: 상관없어.
세경: 뭐?
연재: 일어나지도 않은 일, 신경 안 써. 몇 달 뒤에 무슨 일이 벌어질지 관심 없어. 나한테는 오늘, 지금, 내 감정이 제일 중요해. 강지욱 씨가 나 만나고 싶어하면 만날 거야. 왜냐 하면 나도 그 사람이 보고 싶거든.
Se Kyeong: How long do you think he’ll date a girl like you? Either way, everyone marries their own kind. Therefore, you’ll be tossed aside (eventually).
Yeon Jae: It doesn’t matter.
Se Kyeong: What?
Yeon Jae: I’m not going to give a crap over what hasn’t happen yet. Whatever happens a few months later is not of my interest. To me, what’s most important is my feelings right now, today. If Kang Ji Wook wants to see me, then I’ll see him. Because I want to see him, too.
I know and I have been using 상관, 상관 없다/있다, 신경, 신경 쓰다/안 쓰다, 관심 and 관심 있다/없다 before but I haven’t really thought of the little differences they have until I came across this scene when all 3 were used in just a single exchange of dialogue, emphasizing on the different ways to express “not caring (about something)”.
Basically all 3 can be interchanged, in this context at least. Let’s take for example 일어나지도 않은 일 (something that hasn’t happen yet). We can say “일어나지도 않은 일, 상관 없어”, “일어나지도 않은 일 신경 안 써” and “일어나지도 않은 일, 관심 없어.”
But how are they are different from one another?
- 상관 없다
The noun 상관 means concern, relation, participation. So, although 상관 없다 can be easily translated as “I don’t care” or “It doesn’t matter”, it gives a subtle meaning of “It is not related to me (thus I don’t care/it doesn’t matter).”
- 신경 안 쓰다
The noun 신경 mean concern, care. You can say 나 신경 쓰지 말고 담배 피우세요 (Don’t mind be/don’t be concerned about me, you may smoke.) or 신경 써 주셔서 감사합니다 (Thank you for your concern/consideration.). So 신경 안 쓰다 has a subtle meaning of “I have no concern about it (and I don’t give a crap!)”
- 관심 없다
The noun 관심 means interest, attention, concern. So 관심 없다 has a subtle meaning of “I have no interest (in something).”
Here’s the video clip of the scene mentioned above. Check the timestamp between 1:00 and 1:32.
Disclaimer: We don’t own this video. This is an embedded link to a video uploaded by the Official SBS Scent Of A Woman channel in youtube.
ZX
March 11, 2012
Thanks for the useful post.
Just wanted to bring out, how about 걱정 없다 or 안 걱정하다? Is it more similar to 신겅 안 쓰다?
mykoreancorner
March 20, 2012
Hi! That’s a good point! 걱정 means worry, concern. So it’s more of I have no worries about it. And yes can be close to 신겅 안쓰다.
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