Friday, August 22, 2008

So Universal

I've watched soap operas and dramas from a lot of countries, and I've noticed that whether you're watching a soap from the US, France, Germany, Korea, Japan, there are certain words and phrases that keep coming up over and over again. Here's my list. The phrases in bold are the most frequent, by my count.

Trust me. (If said in the US, or any other Western country, "trust me" is a code for "run away". In Korean soaps, if someone says "trust me", you probably should.)
I'm in love with you.
It's my life!
Bastard/bitch!
I love you/her/him.
I hate you/her/him!
She's beautiful!
You're fired!
I understand.
You have cancer.
I'll make your life hell!
Shut up!
Why are you doing this?
I can't believe this!
I'll call you later.
I'm leaving the country. (Usually to study. Not applicable to the US.)

2 comments:

Geoff said...

How about these:

"I know what I'm doing."
"This time it's different."
"Don't underestimate me."
"You'll never get away with it."
"I'm going to kill you."
"You ruined my life."

TV Kitty said...

I suppose we should add "You're drunk!" and "You're disgusting!" and "Get off me!"