Mom Zone

Let't talk Korean-English bilingual punning.

This is a photo of the hospital that we took Tek to back in January, when he had a really bad illness and we were worried it might be flu. (Because we didn't have any Korean medical insurance at that time, we had to pay the full cost of the doctor's visit: about $15.)

There is a pediatric clinic on the first floor, but the hospital primarily specializes in ob/gyn. The English name of the hospital appears in the koala bear logo at the top, as transcribed in the photo caption:

It says: MOM ZONE WOMEN'S HOSPITAL

The Korean name of the hospital is: Mam Jon Yeoseong Byeongwon. The first two syllables (pronounced "Mahm Jone") sound very close to English "Mom Zone".* The rest of it is "Women's Hospital" (여성병원 女性病院). So the Korean name would seem to be just a borrowing from English: Mom Zone Women's Hospital.

But wait! I am told that Mam Jon 맘존 is also a common, playful contraction of Ma-eum Jo-eun 마음 좋은, which means "kind-hearted".** So setting aside the similarity to English "Mom Zone", in Korean the hospital name means something like "Kind-Hearted Women's Hospital".

That's a pretty sophisticated bilingual pun.


* Korean has no "z" sound. The closest sound is "j". Koreans do not perceive a difference.
** Corrected from earlier.