Korean slang

Slang in the Korean language is referred to as Eun-eo (Korean: 은어) or Sinjo-eo (Korean: 신조어, meaning a newly formed word). These slang words are usually used by the young generation of Korea in their day-to-day lives.

These words are a mixture of different expressions and a combination of various words used by the native Koreans. Some are solely words which can be plunged in certain situations, while some are expressions and phrases which might as well be used as full sentences.

These slang words are getting popular with the increase in the global popularity of South Korean culture driven by the spread of K-dramas, K-movies, and K-pop.

List
  • 짱  (jjang) — Awesome, the best. It is used to express one’s satisfaction, amazement or simply praise someone or something. '얼 짱' (eol-jjang) is the abbreviation of “얼굴 짱” (eol-gul jjang) means a 'pretty' or 'beautiful face'.[1]
  • 대박 (dae-bak) — Great! That is crazy!, Jackpot![2] 대박 (dae-bak) originally "대박나다" (dae-bang-na-da) means ‘a big hit’ or ‘a great success’, but in modern slang, it is used to describe anything that is shocking or amazing.[1]
  • 베프 (beh-peuh) — BFF (Best Friends Forever). It is used to refer to one’s best friend. 베프 (beh-peuh) is short for "베스트 프렌드" (be-seu-teu pheu-ren-deu) which is the Korean way of pronouncing 'best friend'.[1]
  • 헐 (heol) — OMG (Oh My God! or Oh my Gosh!)[1] It is used to express a shocking situation where one is left speechless.
  • 멘붕 (men-bung) — Mental breakdown. It is used to express a moment of mental distress. 멘붕 (men-bung) is the abbreviation of "멘탈 붕괴" (men-tal boong-gwe) which literally means 'mental breakdown'.[2]
  • 콜 (kol) — I’m down!, I’m in!, Sure! or Deal! 콜 is the Korean way of pronunciation of the English word “call,” generally used to express “I accept your offer!”[3]
  • 아싸 (ah-ssa) — Oh Yeah![2] It is used when a person gets a positive response or surprise, like getting a bonus all of a sudden.
  • 파이팅 (phai-ting) / 화이팅 (hwai-ting) — You can do this! 파이팅 is Konglish and is rooted in the English word “fighting.” It’s an expression of support and can be roughly translated as “C’mon!” or “You can do it!”. It is used to boost the morale of a person about to undergo a tough task. 파이팅 is more commonly used in standard written Korean and 화이팅 in spoken form.[2]
  • 심쿵 (sim-khung) — Heartthrob (huge crush). It is used to express the feeling of getting one’s heartbeat faster after seeing or thinking about the person they like or find attractive. '심장' (sim-jang) means 'heart' and '쿵쿵' (khung-khung) is the 'thumping sound' of one’s heart.[1]
  • 꿀잼 (kul-jaem) — Something that is fun or interesting.[2] '꿀' (kul) means 'honey' and '잼' (jaem) is the first part of "재미있어요" (jae-mi-is-seo-yo),  meaning interesting or fun. So literally, this expression means “honey fun.” It is used to describe something enjoyable, interesting or awesome.[2]
  • 노잼 (nojaem) — Something that is not fun, funny, or uninteresting. '노' (no) means “no” or “not” while '잼' (jaem) is the first part of "재미있어요" (jae-mi-is-seo-yo), meaning 'interesting' or 'fun'. So, it is used to express something that is not fun/funny or boring according to the speaker.[4]
  • 혼밥 (hon-bap) — Having a solitary meal. It refers to the act of having a meal alone. 혼밥 is the abbreviation of "혼자 밥을 먹는 행위이다" (hon-ja bab-eul meong-neun haeng-wi-ida) which means it is an act of eating alone.[5]
  • 탕진잼 (tang-jin-jaem) — It is used to express the feeling of having fun or the pseudo feeling of being rich when someone overspends their money for buying many cheap things. 탕진잼 is a combination of words, '탕진' (tang-jin) which means 'blowing money' or 'overspend' and '잼' (jaem) meaning 'fun'. So, literally it expresses “fun that you can feel when you blow or overspend your money on something”[6]
  • 품절남 (phum-joel-nam) / 품절녀 (phum-joel-nyeo) — A man or a woman who is already taken. It refers to a popular man or woman who is already taken or married. '품절' (phum-jeol) means out-of-stock, '남' (nam) means 'man', and '녀' (nyeo) means 'woman'. So, literally 품절남 expresses 'out-of-stock man' or 'sold out man'[7] and 품절녀 expresses 'out-of-stock woman or sold out woman.'[8]
  • 갑분싸 (gab-boon-ssa) — It is used to express a situation where the atmosphere suddenly changes from funny and good to serious and bad.[9] 갑분싸 is abbreviation for "갑자기 분위기 싸해짐" which means "Suddenly the atmosphere is getting colder."
  • 남친 (nam-chin) / 여친 (yeo-chin) — Boyfriend or girlfriend. 남친 is short for '남자 친구' (nam-ja chin-gu), which literally means 'boyfriend.' '여친' is short for '여자 친구' (yeo-ja chin-gu) meaning girlfriend. It is similar to the use of “bf” and “gf”, in English, instead of “boyfriend” or “girlfriend”. [2]
  • 남사친 (nam-sa-chin) / 여사친 (yeo-sa-chin) — A male friend or a female friend 남사친 is used to refer to a guy who is “just a friend”. 남사친 is short for '남자사람친구’ (nam-ja sa-ram chin-gu) which literally means 'man-person-friend'.[1] 여사친 is used to refer to a girl who is “just a friend”. 여사친 is short for '여사사람친구’[1] (yeo-ja sa-ram chin-gu) which literally means 'woman-person-friend'.
  • 단짠 (dan-chan) — Sweet and salty. It is used to express the taste of food which is both sweet and salty[10],or in situations where sweet and salty foods are alternately eaten[11]. It is also used in situations where laughing and crying is done repeated.[12] 단짠 is an abbreviation of ‘달고 짠맛’ ( dal-go chan-mat) which means 'sweet and salty'.
  • 먹방 (meok-bbang) — Eating broadcast.[13] 먹방 (meok-bbang), is an abbreviation of "먹는 방송" (meong-neun bang-song) which means 'broadcast while eating'.[14]
  • 브금 (beu-geum) — BGM (background music). It is used to refer to the background music. 브금 (beu-geum) comes from Korean way of pronunciation of the English word “BGM” which is short for 'background music'.[15]
  • 비번 (bi-beon) — Password. 비번 is abbreviation for "비밀번호" (bi-mil-beon-ho) which means “password”.[1]
  • 사바사 (sa-ba-sa) — Person by person. It is used to express that the situation is different for each person. 사바사 is abbreviation for "사람 by 사람" (sa-ram by sa-ram), which literally means 'person by person'.[16]
  • 셀카 (selca) — Selfie. It refers to the act of taking a picture of oneself or the photo taken by oneself. 셀카 is a combination of the Konglish words, '셀프' (sel-pheu) meaning self and '카메라' (ca-me-ra) meaning 'camera'.[17] It is similar to the use of the English word 'selfie'.
  • 썸 (sseom) — “Something” between two people. 썸 comes from the Konglish word '썸씽' (sseom- shing) which means 'something'. It refers to the subtle feelings exchanged before interacting with an object of interest.[18]
  • 썸타다 (sseom-thada) — It means to have potential, undecided relation of love with someone. 썸타다 is the combination of words, '썸' (sseom) meaning some and '타다' meaning 'ride'.[19] '타다' comes from other expressions regarding catching feelings : "외로움 타다" wae-ro-um tha-da (to feel lonely) or "감성 타다" gam-seong tha-da (to be 'deep' and 'moody').[20]
  • 썸남 (sseom-nam) / 썸녀 (sseom-nyeo) — It refers to the man/ woman with whom an individual exchange subtle feelings before formally dating.[1]
  • 엄친아 (eoum-chin-ah) / 엄친딸 (eom-chin-ttal) — 엄친아 is an acronym of "엄마 친구 아들" (eomma-chingu-adeul) which means 'son of my mom's friend', while 엄친딸 is an acronym of "엄마 친구딸" (eomma-chingu-ttal) which means 'daughter of my mom's friend'.[21] 엄친아 or 엄친딸 is a metaphor for a person who is very perfect.[22] A man or woman who has a lot of money, high salary job, high education, a luxury car, and is also very handsome or beautiful. Comparison of one's child with their friend's child by some Korean mothers led to the origin of these expressions.[21]
  • 용자 (yong-ja) — It refers to someone who is brave. 용자 abbreviation for "용기 있는 행동을 한 자" (yong-gi in-neun haeng-dong-eul han ja) which means ' a courageous man'.[23]
  • 웃프다 (utt-pheu-da) — Funny but sad. It is used to express that something is funny on the surface but represents a sad situation in reality.[24] 웃프다 (utt-pheu-da) is a combination of the words, '웃기다' (utt-gi-da) which means 'it's funny' and '슬프다' (seul-pheu-da) which means 'it's sad’.[25]
  • 존맛 (jon-mat), 존맛탱 (jon-mat-taeng), JMT — It is used to refer something really delicious.[26] '존' (jon) is short for '존나' (jonna) which means 'damn' and '맛' (mat) means taste. 존맛 (jon-mat) is also used in various ways such as 존맛탱 (jon-mat-taeng), JMT. 탱 (taeng) is a word to emphasize. JMT is a complex of each first letter in 존맛탱 (jon-mat-taeng).[27]
  • 지못미 (ji-mot-mi) — It is used to express a situation where someone feels sorry for a person who has a big problem.[28] 지못미 is an acronym of "지켜주지 못해 미안해" which means 'I'm sorry I couldn't protect you.'[29] This word is usually used on the internet and it has no serious feeling or meaning.[28]
  • 치맥 (chimaek) — Chicken and beer. It is short for ‘chicken and beer’.[30] 치맥 is a combination of words, '치킨' (chi-kin), meaning 'fried chicken' and '맥주' (maek-ju), meaning 'beer'. It is a pairing of fried chicken (either plain Huraideu or spicy Yangnyeom) and beer, served as anju (food with alcohol) in the evening in many South Korean restaurants, including a number of specialized chains.[31]
  • 캐리(khae-ri) / 하드캐리(ha-deu-khae-ri) — 하드캐리 (ha-deu-khae-ri) is Konglish and is rooted in the English word “Hard carry”. It is usually used in the team battle games and refers to the person who has led the team's victory with an outstanding performance. The meaning is expanded and used in fields other than games.[32]

References
  1. "Korean Slang: The Ultimate Guide to Sounding Cool in 2020". 90 Day Korean®. 2017-04-19. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  2. D, Stevie (2018-03-26). "Want to Learn These 20 Korean Slang Words? "Call!"". FluentU Korean. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  3. "korean:콜 [OpenSlang Dictionary]". openslang.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  4. "korean:노잼 [OpenSlang Dictionary]". openslang.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  5. "korean:혼밥 [OpenSlang Dictionary]". openslang.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  6. "korean:탕진잼 [OpenSlang Dictionary]". openslang.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  7. ""Men already married to a certain charm" means "품절남" in Korean. | Korean/English dictionary - koreanary". www.koreanary.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  8. ""Women who already are married to a certain charm." means "품절녀" in Korean. | Korean/English dictionary - koreanary". www.koreanary.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  9. "korean:갑분싸 [OpenSlang Dictionary]". openslang.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  10. 김성윤 (2019년 4월 17일). “[스타 중식 셰프의 상하이 미식탐방①] ‘단짠’의 원조는 상하이?”. 조선일보. 2020년 3월 30일에 확인함.
  11. 김종화 (2018년 11월 17일). “[건강을읽다]'단짠단짠'은 미각중독?”. 아시아경제. 2020년 3월 30일에 확인함
  12. 김도연 (2019년 6월 14일). “울고 웃는 단짠예능 '가시나들'을 아시나요”. 미디어오늘. 2020년 3월 30일에 확인함.
  13. ""Eating broadcast" means "먹방" in Korean. | Korean/English dictionary - koreanary". www.koreanary.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  14. Evans, Stephen (2015-02-05). "The Koreans who televise themselves eating dinner". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  15. "korean:브금 [OpenSlang Dictionary]". openslang.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  16. 김기중 (2017년 10월 30일). “뇌피셜·이니굿즈·사바사… 일상으로 건너온 SNS 조어”. 서울신문. 2020년 3월 30일에 확인함.
  17. 정철진 (2002년 9월 12일). “[공연] 모노드라마 '쌔드쎌카'”. 매일경제. 2020년 5월 25일에 확인함.
  18. 기획 장은성 기자; 취재 이수연· 심재희(프리랜서) (2014), “응답하라! 썸남썸녀-1”, 《우먼센스》 (서울문화사) (4월호)
  19. "korean:썸타다 [OpenSlang Dictionary]". openslang.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  20. "vocabulary - What's the origin and meaning of '썸타다'?". Korean Language Stack Exchange. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  21. "korean:엄친아 [OpenSlang Dictionary]". openslang.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  22. 세계일보: '엄마 친구 아들'이 무섭다 (2008-11-05)
  23. 정용인 (2008년 6월 3일). “[언더그라운드 넷]동명이인 ‘이명박’의 수난시대”. 주간경향. 2020년 5월 25일에 확인함
  24. 허윤희; 백수진 (2020년 1월 9일). “웃프다·혼밥·딸바보… 시대 담은 '새말'에 학자들도 심쿵!”. 조선일보. 2020년 5월 25일에 확인함
  25. "korean:웃프다 [OpenSlang Dictionary]". openslang.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  26. 정현목; 김나윤 (2018년 12월 29일). “드라마 제목이 '좋맛탱'? 급식체 모르면 '핵인싸' 아니죠”. 중앙일보. 2020년 5월 25일에 확인함
  27. "korean:존맛 [OpenSlang Dictionary]". openslang.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  28. "korean:지못미 [OpenSlang Dictionary]". openslang.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  29. 안습·지못미 계좌 탈출은 이렇게 2009년 9월 15일 머니투데이방송 특별 대담
  30. 박미향 (2012년 5월 23일). ““내 다시 전성기가 돌아올 줄 알았지””. 한겨레. 2020년 5월 25일에 확인함.
  31. Staff, W. S. J. (2014-02-26). "Korean TV Show Sparks Chicken and Beer Craze in China". WSJ. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  32. "[하이게임] '겜알못'도 널리 쓰는 '신박'한 게임 유래 신조어". it.chosun.com (in Korean). 2019-12-24. Retrieved 2020-06-25.


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