Have you ever asked someone holding a seat at a restaurant, "Is this your seat?" only to have the mood suddenly turn icy? In Korean textbooks, 당신 appears as the translation for "you," but if you actually use it with a stranger, it sounds like you're starting a fight. ## It used to be a polite word In old Korean, 당신 was a word used to respectfully address someone in a very close relationship. A classic example is an elderly couple calling each other "당신, did you eat?" Back then, it was a word filled with respect and affection. ## The word people use now to start a fight Over time, "당신" turned into a sharp-edged word used between strangers. As you can sense from expressions like "당신이 뭔데 그래요," it now sounds like you're confronting the other person. So if you call a stranger "당신," it's easily mistaken not for polite speech but for a signal that you want to fight. ## So what should you call them instead? Korean is a language that doesn't really use second-person pronouns much to begin with, one that omits terms of address or replaces them with titles. When calling out to a stranger, "저기요" is usually the safest choice, "선생님" works if they look older, and at a restaurant or store, "사장님" sounds natural. If you know someone's name, adding "씨" after it is also a safe way to address them.