Another Miss Oh (2016)
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Please note that I'm writing this with the knowledge of only the first two episodes of this series – although I doubt that I needed any more because what I'm discussing here could be done even before I started watching at all.
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I've noticed the very punny name of this series since when it came out, and it did look interesting (although a bit cringy) to a Korean like me. Here on MyDramaList, 또! 오해영 is officially listed as Another Miss Oh, with other "Also Known As" titles like Oh Hae Young Again, Another Oh Hae Young, Misunderstood, and Again! Oh Hae Young. I believe all of these titles are appropriate.
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First of all, the lead females' name Oh Hae Young is a mix of family name Oh and first name Hae Young – both are common in Korea, btw. However, the word "Oh Hae (오해)" from their family name and the first syllable of their first name is a Korean word which literally means "Misunderstanding". This is also part of the plot of this drama, right? The two Hae Youngs get mixed up because of their names and such.
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Now, the Young (영), when added to the end of the word "misunderstanding" really doesn't mean anything, and it even makes the entire word meaningless. However, grammatically if you add a "Yo (요)" at the end of what you're saying (generally speaking), it makes the sentence polite. So, if you say "Oh Hae Yo!", it can be translated as "It's a misunderstanding, (sir/ma'am)!" in a polite way, a way strangers or people who are not in a close relationship would say to each other. Then, in the modern internet society, adding an ending consonant ㅇ (ng), along with other ones, is kind of a way to express your "Aegyo (애교/cuteness)" or your "chill-ness" in text, but it's grammatically incorrect, so basically young adults nowadays modify these stuff however they want. It can transform from "Oh Hae Yo! (It's a misunderstanding!)" to:
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오해요! - Oh Hae Yo! (the original form)
오해용! - Oh Hae Yong! (the basic cute form)
오해욤! - Oh Hae Yom! (the other basic cute form)
오해욧! - Oh Hae Yot! (sounds like you quickly said that and shut your mouth for saying something you shouldn't have said)
오해여! - Oh Hae Yeo! (change of ending vowel / sounds lazy and/or cute)
오해영! - Oh Hae Young! (change of ending vowel + adding ending consonant / sounds "cute")
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Just like with other words - example:
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몰라요 - Molla Yo - I don't know
몰라용 - Molla Yong
몰라욤 - Molla Yom
몰라여 - Molla Yeo
몰라영 - Molla Young
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안녕하세요 - Annyeonghase Yo - Hi, Hello
안녕하세용 - Annyeonghase Yong
안녕하세욤 - Annyeonghase Yom
안녕하세여 - Annyeonghase Yeo
안녕하세영 - Annyeonghase Young (not common)
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Try to read them with each modifier and you'll catch the "cuteness" it adds to the "stiff" and grammatically correct "Yo". So, in conclusion, Oh Hae Young (오해영) would sound like a common Korean female name to Korean people at first glance, but almost as common as that name is the "misspelled" "It's a misunderstanding" phrase.
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Next, the "또" romanized as "Tto" at the beginning of the drama title, which is usually translated to "Another" or "Again", is pronounced with the sound of very sharp(?) "T" or "D". I don't know how to explain but this song happens to have a lot of "또 / Tto" throughout the song... This word has many meanings. It's an adverb. When you use it in the middle of a sentence, it generally means "again". If you use it in the beginning of a sentence, it can mean "also", "moreover", "furthermore" and alike. And if you use it as an exclamation, as it's used in the title of this drama, it'll mostly express the same feeling as in "Again?!" or "Not again!" in English.
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So, now can you see the intentional "It's a misunderstanding again!" kind of meaning the writers tried to show through the drama title? I love it. I'm not here to disagree with any of the English titles on MDL. I agree with every name. It's kind of so much fun to see how one single Korean title can be translated and interpreted into so many variations. If I can vote, however, I'd say these two are the best:
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1) Another Oh Hae Young! - for the fact that "another" really applies to every situation of our lead female(s). It can both mean "There's another person with this name" or "Not this one! Another one!" kind of feeling. While "The other" can be used in the latter case, it won't really have the same meaning as in the former.
2) Misunderstood, Again! - I'm choosing this as the "subtitle" title of this show. It's kind of too bad to leave out the name Oh Hae Young, but it's really a waste to not have this "misunderstood" in the title at all when the Korean title says both. "Misunderstanding Again" is kind of okay too.
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Anyway, I hope that helped some of you understand the meaning behind the title a little more. I'm gonna go back to watching this show now. I'm finding it interesting so far. I can never doubt tvN dramas. I have to agree with the other discussion in this Oh Hae Young forum though, that the poster is very misleading. I saw the poster and it was the main reason why I didn't pick this up previously. Now I'm not running out of stuff to watch, but I thought I could use some lighthearted shows to relax. This (poster) seemed like the one. LOL. Let's see.
