It's Dirty

   Dirty. It is a term used to describe something impure or indecent, a place kept in unsanitary condition or merely something covered in dirt. According to the most common use of the word 'dirty', you can use the word in the following situations. 

   You are waiting for tube in London subway station in summer and see rats crawling merrily in and out. You can remark that the place is dirty. Or, you notice your friend's white sneakers are covered in mud. Then you may as well let him know his shoes are dirty. When you are walking down the street, you see a chimney cleaner with his face covered in ash. You may think his face is dirty.

   

A bad day

   Generally, the use of the word is to objectively describe unclean things. However, in Korea, you can use the word dirty to describe certain things with your personal emotions implied. For one, dirty can be used in a sense of being 'bad' in specific context. One of the most commonly used one would be-'I feel dirty(although it might contain some misleading meanings in English term, let's forget it for the time being)' or 'I am in a dirty mood'. What you should be cautious about is that there is subtle difference between 'bad' and 'dirty' which sets clear line between two words. 


    Say, you are having an awful day. You were late to school and got detention. Stepped on a puddle with your brand-new shoes. Forgot to bring an essay that you had poured your effort into. For a final touch, your younger brother broke your MP3 player. You call your friend and say, 'Hey, I am in such a bad mood.'. Or you say 'Hey, I feel dirty'. Your friend would probably console you right away without hearing any further explanations in latter case.

   
   In this sense, 'dirty' expresses how you honestly feel from the deepest core of your heart. Combination of the irritation, the offendedness and a slight frustration coming from the situation is molten perfectly in this one single sentence. Ready to explode any minute by a slight poke. You feel dirty.

   Not only a mood but also someone's personality can be called dirty. Perhaps, a hysterical teacher who enjoys throwing harsh sarcasm to his students is someone whose personality people call 'dirty'. Calling one's personality 'dirty' has your own personal feelings attached under the word. If his students say 'His personality is so dirty.' instead of using other adjectives, people may guess the students have had hard time. It implies feeling such as 'What's up with his personality?' or 'Is he especially picking on me?' or sheer annoyance. Unlike just describing it bad or annoying, the word 'dirty' is different in its weight.

   Another commonly used form is 'dirtily'. Meaning, really or very much. In a bad sort of way. Whereas the use of 'dirty' is limited for certain situations, 'dirtily' is not. It fits naturally and beautifully into different sentences if 'dirtily' and 'really' can replace one another. 'I feel dirtily bad', 'This food tastes dirtily disgusting.'. 'They dirtily do not pay attention to class', 'I am dirtily unlucky today', 'This is dirtily hard'. Of course, like 'dirty', the tone changes when using 'dirtily' instead of 'really'. Generally, dirtily implies things are not going as you hoped or would have liked. It makes you irritated, uncomfortable and uneasy. So when you hear someone say 'Things are getting dirtily complicated', you may not want to get on his nerves right then.

Although there are certain limits in using 'dirty', some people these days-especially young people- break the limitation. They simply call things they do not like 'dirty'. Following dialogues are common examples.

-Hey! Did you hear that our summer holidays is only for three weeks?

-Dirty!!!

or

-Guess what? Our final exam is in three days! Did you study for it?

-Oh. It really is dirty.

   Or they simply name things 'dirty' when they disapprove it. Dirty homework, dirty school, dirty form tutor, dirty life, dirty test and so on(depending on situations, it might actually mean the thing is not clean).

Some people may think the word 'dirty' or 'dirtily' used in informal way is a bad slang. That it sounds too rough or impolite as if they were spitted out from mouth. Others may argue linking word dirty to a negative connotation is unfair. Viewing dirty thing as bad is prejudiced. However, 'dirty' is the perfect word in getting your feelings across in simple form.

   'Dirty world that only remembers the one in first place'

   

   
   It was a popular line among people these day taken from comedy program in Korea. During the show, a drunk man shouts out the sentence with his twisted tongue. In fact, his one single line reflects a dark aspect of our society. Not only in education but also in general work place, people-ranging from adults to students-compete to be better than anybody else. A student who came first in the test. A businessman with number one selling record. A group of people who graduated from well-known scholastic university. People think those are the ones our society remembers in the end. They think the end justifies the means and the end is what matters.

   These are all implied in the comedian's line. 'This dirty world.' People laugh at his funny acting, laugh at the sharp and insightful denouncement of the social norm, and laugh because they can relate to his feeling about the 'dirty' world. In the word 'dirty', there is edged criticism to society, bitterness, frustration and a bit of sadness. Had it been replaced with other words such as 'bad' or 'disgusting' it would not have brought up the same identification from people. The real value is in the fact that 'dirty' manages to deliver complex and condensed emotions in simple and straight forward way.

   
   Dirty. It is a term used to describe something unclean. And, it is a single peculiar word that has different layers of meanings.