prolog

Eat: Stories about things related to food

1 That's the tripod stuck in the middle of the pizza
2 That thing used to tie bread bags
3. The white thread-like thing attached to the tangerine flesh
4. Wrapping the fruit to prevent it from being damaged
5 That powder you dip lamb skewers in
6. That lamp-shaped thing that holds curry
7 That net where the pork cutlet rests
8 The rotating thing installed on the round table in the Chinese restaurant
9 That thing placed next to the Chinese restaurant's danmuji
10 Peas that are served with salmon dishes
11 That jelly-like thing underneath the sashimi
12 Disposable knife for opening the packaging of delivery food containers
13 Green thing between the wrapped sushi
14 Colorful candies that are placed on the ancestral rite table

Drink: A story about things surrounding drinks

15 Wire to secure champagne corks
16 That dent in the bottom of the wine bottle
17 It's a glass bottle, but it's used as a drink glass.
18 That thing you put on a takeout cup
19 That thing that gets confused with straws in cafes
20 Takeout cup lids that you can drink from without opening them
21 That thing that blocks the hole in the takeout cup lid
22 That thing that hangs like a tail on a soju bottle cap
23 That flat bottle favored by drinkers in movies

Wearing: A story about things worn on the body

24 The square thing that adjusts the length of the bag strap
25 That pig nose shaped patch in the middle of the backpack
26 That thing you use to put a price tag on new clothes
27 Pocket inside jeans pocket
28 That thing that prevents shoelaces from coming undone
29 Metal clips that tie two pairs of socks together
30 That ring on the back of the sneaker
31 At a wedding, a flower decoration on the groom's chest instead of the bride's bouquet
32 Hole in the front of men's underwear
33 That thing that Muslim women wear on their faces
34 The beaded string used as a military ID tag.
35 That thing hanging from the chests of soldiers
36 The long thing worn over the graduation gown
37 That bazooka-like thing that art students carry around

Living: Stories of Things in Every House

38 That doorknob on the front door of the mansion in the movie
39 That hole looking out of the front door of the apartment
40 That thing that prevents the door from closing automatically
41 That thing in the kitchen that doesn't have a table or sink
42 Outdoor space attached to the apartment
43 That 180 degree rotating lock on the window
44 The paper core that comes out when you use up all the toilet paper rolls
45 That thing you use to unclog a toilet
46 That's the bubble wrap that protects the items inside the delivery box.
47 Not the nail clippers that come with the nail clipper set
48 The crescent-shaped white thing at the root of the nail

Write: Stories of Things That Make Life Convenient

49 That string between the bookshelves that marks how far you've read
50 Those sparkly pieces of paper sprinkled at weddings
51 The bead-shaped clasp that closes the coin purse
52 A manual pump that sucks up kerosene by pressing it.
53 That stick that separates your items from those of the person in front of you at the mart checkout counter
54 Hard-to-open packaging for electronic products or stationery
55 That thing you use when carrying a baby
56 The ring-shaped thing on the vision test chart
57 That thing that reads vertically, backwards, and makes puns

Stroll: Stories of Things Seen While Walking

58 The tip of the power line on the electric pole is shaped like a potato
59 That stake erected at the boundary between the road and the sidewalk
60 That cone-shaped thing that indicates no entry
61 The blue sponge under the car door handle
62 That thing that decorates the hood of a luxury car
63 That straw coat that wraps the street trees in winter
64 That vine tunnel you see in every park
65 Large marshmallows rolled up in a circle in the field after harvest
66 Balloons dancing in front of the new store
67 That structure piled up next to the seawall
68 That grass that rolls in the wind in western movies

Working: Stories of Things We Encounter at Work

69 The joint between the pencil and the eraser tip
70 That cylindrical thing on the laptop power cable
71 Keyboard keys other than numbers and letters
That font that has weird pictures instead of 72 letters
73 Colorful clips for filing stacks of documents
74 That thing that office workers wear around their necks
75 The red button and cover that you press in case of emergency
76 English abbreviations that come before email titles

References
Image source
Index (alphabetical order)

There is no such thing as being born with the name 'that'!
A guide to the nameless things you encounter every day

We've all probably had the experience of referring to something as "that" when we don't know its exact name.
Even the smallest and most trivial objects we use every day are born with names.
Maeil Business Newspaper reporter Hong Seong-yoon's book, "That Dictionary," contains the names and stories of 76 things that have been called "that" so far, such as "that white thread-like thing attached to the flesh of a tangerine" or "that tripod stuck in the middle of a pizza."
As I read the information that remains beyond the name, such as the nature, use, meaning, and history of an object, the objects that have always been by my side for granted begin to look different.
What's the purpose of that pig nose hanging from a backpack? How did that rotating table at a Chinese restaurant come to be called "Lazy Susan"? What was the original purpose of that bubble wrap used for parcel delivery? This book explores the unspoken names of small, often insignificant objects, and shares anecdotes about them along the way.
It doesn't matter if you don't know the name, but your world will expand once you know the name.
When you begin to notice things you hadn't noticed before, you begin an intellectual journey into a new world of culture you've never experienced before.

From the 'that' of tangerine peel to the 'that' of saving pizza
An encyclopedia of the little things that everyone knows but no one knows about.

One day, the author became curious about the name of the 'C-shaped plastic thing that holds the pump of a shampoo bottle in place so that it does not get pressed down', and began to see countless 'things' that make up our daily lives.
So I called manufacturers, searched dictionaries, and dug through patent documents from over a century ago to get back the names of the little things called "things."
The process was not easy because I didn't know the name.
Through arduous work, we were able to discover countless names for 'that thing', from those that intuitively describe the appearance or use of an object to those that originated from specific etymologies and were transformed.


The name of a thing is a ledger of all the traces left on that thing.
That is why, in the process of finding a name, we can encounter various knowledge such as history, economy, science, and culture.
This book begins with a single name, but expands into a vast story that transcends time and place.
The story, which begins with 'that curry bowl', moves to India, where curry first originated, and then to England and Japan, and then to Korea, where the yellow curry we remember was developed.
Beyond this, through the interwoven stories of objects that cross over from literary works to the Bible and the Quran, we encounter the trivial, yet generally enjoyable, sometimes intellectual, and sometimes humorous, sides of things.
From the origins of 'that thing' that has been used for centuries to the process of finding its usefulness through repeated failures and the stories of the people involved in the thing.
This book, which builds up knowledge and culture layer by layer by following the names of 76 objects, will add a little culture to readers' daily lives.