평균으로 만족하는 삶
영어 이야기 2111
bog-standard
평균의
대한민국의 대통령은 그 권력이 대단한 것은 물론
그와 그 가족의 사생활 또한 '보통 사람'의 상상을 초월할 정도로
넉넉함에 틀림없다.
그런데 한국의 전직 대통령이 '보통 사람'과 같은 대통령이라고 주장했으나
정말 보통 사람들은 그의 말을 믿으려고 하지 않았다.
왜냐하면 보통 사람의 심정은 보통 사람이 아닌 사람이
(특히 대통령 같은 고위직에 있는)
이해할 수 없는 삶이라는 것을 잘 모르는 모양이다.
Being BOG-STANDARD is ordinary, without anything special added.
'보통 (평균)이 되는 것은 (어떤 사람이나 사물에) 특별하게
더하는 것 없는 상태 (그런 사람의 모습)'를 가리키기 때문이다.
보통이라는 낱말을 더 쉽게 풀이한 영문도 있다
“Completely, utterly, absolutely ordinary in every way
완전하게, 전적으로, 확실하게 모든 면에서 보통인 것
젊은 세대와 (그들이 생각하는) 꼰대 세대와 다른 점은
휴대전화나 computer 를 얼마나 효율적으로 사용하느냐에 달려있다.
보통 사람과 '비보통 사람'의 차이는 다양하겠지만 ~
보통 사람은 '그것이 얼마나?'고 묻고
비보통 사람은 '얼마나 안락하냐'고 묻는단다
The hotel we stayed in was BOG-STANDARD that is,an average hotel room.
우리가 머물렀던 호텔은 보통이었다
다시 말해서 보통의 방
I've got a bog standard computer,
It's fine for just sending emails and surfing the Internet (with my computer or cellphone)
she is your BOG-STANDARD old woman.
내 컴퓨터나 휴대전화로 그냥 이메일을 보내고
인터넷에서 (단순한 정보를) 찾는 것이 좋다
(그러니까) 그녀는 보통 늙은이이다
bog-standard 의 언어적 뿌리는 정확하지 않지만
많은 언어 학자들은 box-standard 에서 왔다는 주장을 한다.
box-standard 는 화장실의 셀라믹 변기를
대량 생산한다는 의미를 가지고 있다고 한다.
화장실의 변기야 말로 '보통 사람'은 물론
높은 사람도 사용해야 하니까 말이다.
내 아내와 나는 '큰 마음'을 먹고 새차를 샀는데
The car we bought was just a BOG-STANDARD model.
(사진이 바로 그 차다)
나이가 들면서 보통 사람도 되지 못하는가 걱정할 때도 있다.
I sometime feel that I may be under BOG-STANDARD.
나는 종종 보통 이하일지도 모른다고 느낀다
In Control
Embracing Averageness
It's OK to aspire for less than excellence.
Posted August 28, 2023
Reviewed by Jessica Schrader
“Completely, utterly, absolutely ordinary in every way
K
[00:01:07]
I've got a bog standard computer, but it's fine for just sending emails and surfing the Internet
she was your bog standard old woman
" She was a complete breath of fresh air . . . she was not your bog standard middle-aged actress .
completely ordinary, without anything special added
My last car was just a bog-standard model.
Pretty bog-standard reply I guess but fingers crossed for a refund.
"An inspection of the hammer reveals one of the most hi-tech items currently fitted to a box standard weapon."
the hotel we stayed in was bog standard (an average hotel room)
EY POINTS
Most people are average.
Learning to value being competent and adequate could be useful.
Adequate and excellent might be more similar than different.
When I was in graduate school, I had a job as a tutor for our first-year psychology courses, which I really enjoyed.
Helping students work their way through the course material was a lot of fun and included marking the lab exercises and other assignments they had to complete.
One day, the tutor at the desk next to me, who was marking his portion of assignments, blurted out in exasperation to no one in particular, “Oh! Why are so many students average?!” I can remember smiling to myself as I thought, “Because that’s what average is."
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Unknown, but probably derived from a corruption of box-standard under influence from bog (“toilet”), possibly via bog-wheel (“Cambridge slang for bicycle”),[1] or from bog (“unsettled swampland”) in reference to a lack of sophistication or polish.[
I’ve often pondered that brief event and I continue to be puzzled about why “average” gets such a bad rap.
Have you ever heard people say, “She’s just average”? Why is average seen as a less-than-desirable thing?
Why isn’t good enough, good enough?
Just for fun, I looked up synonyms for “average” on wordhippo.com. Words like “bland,” “mediocre,” “second-rate,” “nothing special,” “bog-standard,” and “not up to much” are offered. Are you puzzled by that? Why isn’t average OK?
By definition, we can’t all be the best. Not at everything and not at anything all the time. Even those few who get to be the best at something are only the best momentarily. Records come and records go.
Sometime recently I stumbled upon the idea that the world might be a fairer and kinder neighbourhood if we placed greater value on competence and adequacy.
Why aren’t we encouraged to be satisfied with being competent? Why don’t we collectively commit to each of us accumulating adequate rather than preposterously extravagant savings?
Of course, we can acknowledge that our own individual standards for competence or adequacy will differ but competent doesn't have to mean excellent and adequate is never surplus. And striving for excellence should not be demeaned if that’s what some people want to do but perhaps we could learn to value competence just as highly. In fact, perhaps we could come to understand adequate and excellent as different notes of the same tune.
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From a certain perspective, we were already excellent even before we drew our first breath. We arrived when our first cells got together and started their human-building tango. The process that is life itself is perhaps nature’s most astonishing and outstandingly excellent achievement. The accomplishments that individuals amass during this process are mere trinkets in comparison to the process itself.
When stuff began organizing itself into things that could be self-sustaining, conditions were changed forever. The seemingly simple process of creating and maintaining stability in the midst of unrest is breathtakingly magnificent. Each of us is already a manifestation of nature at its very best. So, too, by the way, is a mangrove, a bumblebee bat, a cocker spaniel, a scorpion fly, a polar bear, and e. coli. Life is about keeping on keeping on. It’s about participating in whatever way makes sense to you.
So, by all means, strive for excellence if that’s what you like to do. Create the excellence that has meaning and value for you even if that particular version of excellence doesn’t meet the highest standards of others. And, if pushing the boundaries and reaching for the stars isn’t what makes your mind sparkle, that’s OK too. Keeping your world in the state you like it to be in is as excellent as it gets.
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Perhaps our most excellent feat will be finding that organisation of circumstances and conditions that allows people to experience the balance they seek without preventing others from doing the same. What a wonderfully adequate village that will be.