타다
ta-da
Why a bus and a trend are both things you climb onto
The picture A body settles on top of something that is moving, and goes wherever that thing goes. 타다 is getting on and moving with it; 내리다 is lifting your feet off it back onto the ground.
Where the picture shows up in 타다
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a body climbs aboard
저는 매일 버스를 타고 출근해요.
jeo-neun mae-il beo-seu-reul ta-go chul-geun-hae-yo
I take the bus to work every day.
A body waiting at the stop steps up into the bus, sits down, and is carried off when the bus pulls away
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carried upward inside a small room
짐이 많으니까 엘리베이터를 타세요.
ji-mi ma-neu-ni-kka el-li-be-i-teo-reul ta-se-yo
You've got a lot to carry — take the lift.
People step into a small room and the whole room lifts them to the floor above
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sitting on two wheels
여기서 자전거를 타면 안 돼요.
yeo-gi-seo ja-jeon-geo-reul ta-myeon an dwae-yo
You're not allowed to ride a bike here.
A body settles on the saddle and becomes one lump with the bike, rolling as the pedals turn
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sitting on a current
요즘은 이런 옷이 유행을 타요.
yo-jeu-meun i-reon o-si yu-haeng-eul ta-yo
Clothes like this are riding the trend right now.
A shirt floating on the moving water of fashion, drifting along wherever the current goes
A trend is not an object but a current. You sit on it.
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carried off by the wind
소문이 바람을 타고 금방 퍼졌어요.
so-mu-ni ba-ra-meul ta-go geum-bang peo-jeo-sseo-yo
The rumour rode the wind and spread in no time.
Words leave a mouth, climb onto the breeze, and are carried to the far end of the neighbourhood
All of it in one picture
타다 is one picture: you climb onto something and go where it goes. Settle into a bus seat and that is your commute; step into the little room and it carries you upstairs; sit on the saddle and you and the bike move as one lump. Put a shirt on the moving current of fashion and it sells; put words on the wind and a rumour travels. So wherever 타다 appears, you are not moving under your own power — you have handed your motion over to something else.