억울하다

I

idialegre

Senior Member
Hamburg, Germany
USA English
Hi Everybody. In the novel 레몬 by 권여선, a young man is being interrogated by a detective. They are talking about a girl named 김해언, who is in school, in Division 3 (삼반), which is a girls' division. The young man then mentions another girl, 윤태림, and the following exchange ensues:

(소년): 윤.... 태림.
(형사): 윤태림? 윤태림이 누구야?
(소년): 삼반 애 있어요. 해언이랑 같은 반요.
(형사): 여자야?

소년이 대번에 어리둥절한 표정을 지었다.

(소년): 아, 여자요. 여학생반인데, 삼반은요.

형사는 억울했다. 자기가 삼반이 여학생반인지 남학생반인지 무슨 수로 알겠는가. 그러다 아, 김해언이랑 같은 반이랬지, 하는 생각이 떠오르자 더 화가 치밀었다.

I don't understand the sentence 형사는 억울했다. According to all the dictionaries I've consulted, 억울하다억울하다 means "to be unfair." But that doesn't seem to make any sense here.

Can anyone help me out? Thanks in advance!
 
    • (Boy): Yoon.... 1)Tae-rim.
    (Detective): Yoon Tae-rim? Who is Yoon Tae-rim?
    (Boy): The one in Division 3, I mean. (She is) The classmate of Hae-2)un.
    (Detective): Is the person female?

    1) Tae-rim is her first name.
    2) as in /understand/

    The boy seemed puzzled at first glance.

    (Boy): Umm, (Tae-rim is) female. She is in the female-only class, and it's what Division 3 is meant to be.

    The detective felt wronged as there was no way for him to find out whether Tae-rim was in a female-only class.
    In the meantime, as soon as an idea popped into his head like "Oh, (the boy told me) she (Taerim Yoon) is in the same class with Hae-un Kim,' his anger grew even more.



    The detective seems to feel this way, because the boy took it for granted that Tae-rim was in a female class and reacted as if the detective was in the dark about it.
     
    Thank you for your answer. So 억울하다 can mean "to be unfair" and also "to feel wronged" or "to feel that something is unfair?" For example, if I want to say that I find a situation unfair, which would be the correct way to phrase it?

    1) 이 상황은 억울해요.
    2) 나는 이 상황이 억울하다고.
    3) 나는 이 상황이 억울하다고 생각해요.
    4) 나는 이 상황에 억울해요.
     
    1) This situation is unfair to me.
    2) I find this situation unfair to me.
    3) I think this situation is unfair to me.
    4) I feel wronged in this situation.

    So when the subject of the verb 억울하다 is a person, it'd be someone feel wronged. If it's not a person, something is unfair to someone.
     
    I'd like to add a comment.
    "1) 이 상황은 억울해요." and "3) 나는 이 상황이 억울하다고 생각해요." will be the proper one in most cases.

    "4) 나는 이 상황에 억울해요." also can be used but most native Koreans are not likely to use '상황에'.
    '상황은' or '상황이' sounds more natural.

    "2) 나는 이 상황이 억울하다고." is not polite. So we can use this expression only to friends or yunger people. Additionally, the '고' in the end sentence implies you already said about the unfairness and say it again to stress it.
     
    idialegre said:
    (소년): 윤.... 태림.
    (형사): 윤태림? 윤태림이 누구야?
    (소년): 삼반 애 있어요. 해언이랑 같은 반요.
    (형사): 여자야?

    소년이 대번에 어리둥절한 표정을 지었다.

    (소년): 아, 여자요. 여학생반인데, 삼반은요.

    형사는 억울했다. 자기가 삼반이 여학생반인지 남학생반인지 무슨 수로 알겠는가. 그러다 아, 김해언이랑 같은 반이랬지, 하는 생각이 떠오르자 더 화가 치밀었다.
    Click to expand...
    In my opinion, the flow of logic goes...

    (Boy) Yoon... Tae-rim.
    (Detective) Who is this Yoon Tae-rim?
    (Boy) The one from the third division.
    (Detective) Is Yoon Tae-rim a girl?
    (Boy) Naturally she is. The third division is the girls-only class you know. (Implying, "Why do you ask such an obvious thing? You would know she is a girl when you hear she's from the third division!")
    (Detective) [In his inner voice] How would I know that anyone from the third division is a girl?!

    So, in his inner voice, he becomes "억울하다".
    I guess here his feeling is close to exasperation, irritation at having to face the boy's why-do-you-ask-such-an-obvious-thing face. I hope this is helpful. :)
     
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