We usually reminisce on Sundays, and today I chose ‘Catallena’ by Orange Caramel for us.

What can I say about this wild song? Or the accompanying music video, which is arguably the most campy video I’ve ever seen? I believe ‘Catallena’ doesn’t require much explanation; it’s simply an overwhelming and even kitschy delight.

Here’s a fun fact: the song incorporates snippets from a Punjabi folk song.

춤추는 작은 까탈레나

나도 모르게 빠져 들어가 

도도한 콧대 까탈레나

“Dancing little Catallena,

I fall into you without even realizing it.

Proud, high-nosed Catallena.”

Vocabulary & grammar breakdown

1. 춤추는 작은 까탈레나

• 춤추다 = “to dance”
• 춤추는 = present attributive form (“dancing”)
• 작은 = “small / little” (attributive form of 작다)
• 까탈레나 = name (Catallena)

→ Structure: [verb-(는)] + [adjective-(은)] + noun

→ “the little Catallena who is dancing.”

2. 나도 모르게

• 나도 = “even I / I also”
• 모르다 → 모르게 = adverbial form (“without knowing”)

→ Fixed expression meaning

“without realizing it / unconsciously.”

3. 빠져 들어가

• 빠지다 = “to fall into”
• 들어가다 = “to go in / enter”

→ Compound verb 빠져 들어가다 =

“to gradually fall into / become absorbed in”

→ Present tense informal: 들어가.

4. 도도한 콧대

• 도도하다 = “haughty / proud / aloof”
• 도도한 = attributive form
• 콧대 = literally “bridge of the nose”

→ Idiomatic meaning: “pride / arrogance”

→ In Korean, a “high nose bridge” implies pride.

Ah, yes. You’ve read correctly. Orange Caramel’s hit song from 2014 is about them falling in love with a woman.