확인하다: confirm vs. identify

To identify means to recognize something/someone as being a particular person or thing. When you identify AAA as BBB, it means AAA가 BBB임을 확인하다. Take a look at the following example:

• The victim of last night's car car crash was identified as a two-year-old girl from Korea: 지난 밤 자동차 사고의 피해자는 2세 한국 여아로 확인되었다.
  
• It has not been determined whether the recent sinking is related to North Korea: 북한이 최근 침몰에 연루되었는지는 확인되지 않았다. In this sentence, you should not use "identify" as you are not trying to figure out how exactly North Korea was involved. You don't even know whether North Korea was involved or not. You can say you identify North Korea "as an instigator," but you can't say you "identify North Korea."

To confirm means to establish the accuracy of something or acknowledge something with definite assurance, (무엇이 사실임을 공식적으로) 확인하다.

• [Commodore Lee Ki-Sik] did confirm reports in the South Korean news media that another South Korean ship had fired warning shots around the time the [Cheonan] was damaged after detecting an unidentified object on its radar (New York Times, March 26, 2010): 이기식 준장은 천안함 폭발 무렵 레이더에 미상의 물체가 포착되어 다른 초계함이 경고사격을 했다는 한국 언론의 보도가 사실임을 확인하였다.
  

In this sentence, the Commodore is confirming that the news reports are accurate, so you should say "confirm," not "identify."

인정하다: admit vs. recognize

Both to admit and to recognize can be translated as 인정하다 in Korean, but they don't mean the same thing.

To admit means to confess one's guilt, 잘못을 (마지못해) 시인하다 in Korean.

• Fast-food chain KFC has admitted breaching hygiene rules at one of its busiest branches in Britain (BBC, April 8, 1010): 패스트푸드 체인 KFC는 영국에서 가장 분주한 KFC 매장 중 한 곳이 위생 규범을 어겼음을 시인하였다.

To recognize means to realize/perceive/understand, 존재나 사실을 인식하다 in Korean.

• In adopting its resolution on the observance of Women's Day, the General Assembly cited two reasons: to recognize the fact that securing peace and social progress and the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms require the active participation, equality and development of women... (http://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/iwd/): 유엔 총회는 여성의 날을 기념하여 결의안을 채택하면서, 결의안 채택의 두 가지 동기를 언급하였다. 첫 째는 평화와 사회적 진보를 보장하고 인권과 근본적인 자유를 완전히 누리기 위해서는 여성들의 적극적인 참여와 평등, 발전이 필요하다는 사실을 인식하기 위함이다.

So if you say "KFC recognized its mistakes," it means KFC discovered mistakes that it was not aware of before. But if you say "KFC admitted its mistakes," it suggests that KFC was already aware of its problems, but did not acknowledge it publicly.

reputation vs. fame

A common point of confusion: reputation vs. fame.

Although both can be translated as 명성 in Korean, there is a subtle difference between the two.

Fame means widespread popularity and public recognition, a close equivalent of 유명세, 명예 in Korean. Take a look at the following examples:

• If the latest allegation is true, if Lawrence Taylor had sex with a 16-year-old prostitute, then even the most feared defensive player in the history of professional football doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame (명예의 전당). ... maybe it’s best if fans stop buying player jerseys, since it’s impossible to know what fame and fortune will do to athletes (Bloomberg, May 10, 2010)
• Fame on the level that Mr. Jackson achieved is all but impossible for pop culture heroes today, and quite likely it will never be possible again (New York Times, June 27, 2009)

Reputation means a favorable and publicly recognized name for achievement, or the opinion of others towards a person, a close equivalent of 좋은 평판, 명성 in Korean. While fame is uncountable, reputation is a countable noun, usually used as "to gain/build/ruin/have a reputation." Take a look at the following examples:

• Robert Halderman, a former CBS producer, was sentenced to 6 months in jail for trying to shake down David Letterman over office affairs...Halderman admitted trying to extort $2 million from the Late Show host last fall by threatening to ruin his reputation (USA Today, May 4, 2010)
• Ms. Kagan attended Hunter College Elementary and graduated in 1977 from the selective Hunter College High School, where her brother, Irving, teaches today. ... "Even though she was a year behind me in [elementary] school she had a reputation for being incredibly smart," said Jason Brown, a childhood and college friend who is now an attorney at Ropes &Gray LLP in New York (Wall Street Journal, May 10, 2010)
• During his 40-year tenure at The Post, Mr. Rosenfeld wrote more than 10,000 op-ed columns and unsigned editorials. He frequently took on two of the most polarizing issues of the time, the Cold War and the conflict in the Middle East, but built a reputation among colleagues for his unflagging efforts to understand the world and his ability to write intelligently about any part of it.(Washington Post obituary, May 3, 2010)
  

일축하다: dismiss vs. reject

일축하다 in Korean has two different meanings, and accordingly two different equivalents in English.

When 일축하다 means 제안이나 부탁을 단번에 거절하다, you should use reject or refuse.

• 새로운 사업 아이디어를 제안하였다가 사업 파트너에게 번번이 일축을 당한 후, 둘의 관계는 멀어졌다: After his new business ideas had been repeatedly rejected by his partner, their relationship soured.
  

But when 일축하다 means 의혹이나 주장을 (고려할 가치가 없다며) 부인하거나 더 이상 거론하지 않다, you should use dismiss.

• 한국 측은 자동차 무역을 다양한 산업을 포함한 더 큰 협정의 일부로 보아야 한다며 한미 자동차 무역에 대한 미국의 우려를 일축해 왔다: Korea has dismissed U.S. concerns over the [U.S.-Korea] auto trade, which it said should be seen as part of a bigger deal encompassing a variety of industries. (Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2010)
  

ameliorate/improve

Keep in mind that to ameliorate means to alleviate or mitigate something painful or bad. Similarly, to improve means to bring something into a more desirable condition, suggesting that it was less desirable before. Take a look at the following examples.

• We’re taking an extreme effort now to make sure that we reach a resolution because we are more and more sinking into a deficit situation that we may not be able to ameliorate, and I’m not just going to sit around and let this situation overwhelm the taxpayers of New York (New York Times, May 4, 2010): The author is trying to ameliorate a budget deficit, which is generally considered undesirable.
  
• The Indigenous HIV/AIDS Research Training program, designed specifically for indigenous and other underrepresented ethnic minority scholars, mentors and trains the scholars to design culturally grounded research that will contribute to ameliorating health disparities among American Indians and Alaska Natives in the areas of HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted infections, and mental health (Kimberly Teehee, "Together We Must Face the Challenge of HIV/AIDS in Native American Communities", March 19, 2010): Kimberly Teehee argues for ameliorating health disparities, which is also not a good thing to have.
• Europe's economic prospects are improving slightly, despite worries about government debts and persistently high unemployment (Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2010): By saying "improving," the author implies that Europe's economic prospects have not been so bright.
  

Therefore, when you are talking about a situation that is not necessarily undesirable, do not use "ameliorate" or "improve." The following sentences are some of the mistakes that I have seen very often.

• To strengthen its relationship with the U.S., Korea should renew the mutually beneficial trade agreement: If you said "improve" instead of "strengthen," it would imply that the relationship hasn't been very good. By saying "strengthen," you suggest that renewing the agreement makes the relationship even stronger.
  
• By successfully managing routine multitasking, employees can refine their judgment about information: If you said "alleviate" or "improve" instead of "refine", it would mean that employees didn't have good judgment. By saying "refine," you simply suggest that employees will have even more precise judgment.
  

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom consists of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. When you say 영국, it means the United Kingdom, not England.

The proper adjective from of the United Kingdom therefore is either "U.K." or "British", not "English." Take a look at the following examples:

• the British government/the U.K. government (o)
• British English (o)
  
• the British Parliament/the U.K. Parliament (o)
• a British scientist (o)

• an English scientist (x, unless you are emphasizing the fact that this person is from England)
  
• the English government (x)
• the English Parliament (x)
  

cumulative vs. accumulative

Cumulative and accumulative are almost synonymous, but there is a subtle difference.

Cumulative means resulting from accumulation, growing by successive addition, 누적, 누계 in Korean. Statistical indexes are mostly called "cumulative something." So for 누적률, say "cumulative rate," not "accumulative rate" or "accumulated rate."

• Over the last decade, workers have received a cumulative wage increase of 14 percent: 지난 10년간 노동자들의 누적임금상승률은 14%이다.
• To qualify for this program, applicants must have a cumulative grade point average (gpa) of 3.5 or higher: 이 프로그램에 지원하려면 전체 평점이 3.5 이상이어야 한다.
• In “The Collapse of Complex Societies”, Mr. Tainter examines three ancient civilizations, including the Roman Empire, and explains how complexity drove them to ruin, essentially by bankrupting them. Does he look at the complexity of the problems facing the United States and see doom? Possibly.“Complexity creeps up on you,” he said in an interview. “It grows in ways, each of which seems reasonable at the time. It seemed reasonable at the time that we went into Afghanistan. It’s the cumulative costs that makes a society insolvent. Everything the Roman emperors did was a reasonable response in the situation that they found themselves in. It was the cumulative impact that did them in.” (New York Times, April 30, 2010)

Accumulative means growing in size or effect, 늘어나는, 커져가는, 축적되는 in Korean. Note that an accumulative AAA implies a sum of AAA, whereas a cumulative AAA usually suggests that you are looking at an increase in AAA over time. For example, when you calculate a cumulative gpa, you don't just add up your grade points from all semesters. You look at the overall average. Take a look at the following examples:

• Accumulated depreciation means the total amount of depreciation that has been recorded for an asset since its date of acquisition: 감가상각총액이란 자산 취득 이후 감소한 자산 가치의 총계를 의미한다.
• Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital PSC said its shareholders approved a proposal to set off accumulated losses against excess statutory reserves (Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2010) : 두바이의 수아 캐피탈 PSC는 법정 준비금을 사용하여 총 누적 손실액을 상쇄하고자 하는 제안을 주주들이 승인하였다고 밝혔다.