Slang from South Korea
aegyo (์ ๊ต)
An overly cute, childlike display of affection or charm (common behavior for idols).
a-ssa (์์ธ)
Outsider; a social outcast or loner, often online.
bab-o (๋ฐ๋ณด)
Fool; idiot (mild, often used playfully among friends).
banchan (๋ฐ์ฐฌ)
Side dishes (essential part of a Korean meal, often served with main dishes).
bbaegok (๋นผ๊ณก)
Packed tightly; full (often used for schedules or spaces).
bbaekkom (๋นผ๊ผผ)
Peeking out; popping up (onomatopoeia for a quick peek).
beolddeok (๋ฒ๋ก)
Suddenly standing up; bouncing up (onomatopoeia for quick movement).
bulgeum (๋ถ๊ธ)
Fire Friday; TGIF (The Golden Friday, referring to a fun Friday night).
๐ฅ 90 upvotescha-mak (์ฐจ๋ง)
Traffic jam; traffic congestion (short for "cha ga mak-hi-da").
cha-ryeo-ip-da (์ฐจ๋ ค์ ๋ค)
To dress up nicely; to be well-dressed.
chicken (์นํจ)
Fried chicken (extremely popular takeaway/delivery item).
chimac (์น๋งฅ)
Chicken and beer (a popular combination, from "chicken" + "maekju" (beer)).
chongdae (์ด๋)
The person who takes the initiative or takes responsibility (literally "spearhead").
comeback
The release of a new album or single by a K-pop artist.
daebak (๋๋ฐ)
Awesome; jackpot; used to express amazement at a successful song, drama, or performance.
daeri unjeon (๋๋ฆฌ์ด์ )
Designated driver service (where a driver is hired to drive the owners car home).
deuktem (๋ํ )
Getting a desired item, often unexpectedly or at a good price (from "deuktemhada" - to acquire an item).
๐ฅ 73 upvoteseojeokjeojeok (์ด์ฉ๊ณ ์ ์ฉ๊ณ )
Blah blah blah; et cetera (used to refer to omitted or unimportant details).
eolggeum (์ผ๊ธ)
Face game; looking good (used for focusing on visual attractiveness in dating).
eomchinah (์์น์)
Moms friends son (someone who is perfect in every way, often used sarcastically).
๐ฅ 66 upvoteseomjji (์์ฐ)
A clumsy or awkward person (from "eomcheong-i" - awkward person).
eoryeopda (์ด๋ ต๋ค)
Difficult; hard (can be used to express a tricky situation or embarrassment).
๐ฅ 60 upvoteseoryeopta (์ด๋ ต๋ค)
Difficult; hard (can be used to express a tricky situation or embarrassment).
๐ฅ 83 upvotesgamsung (๊ฐ์ฑ)
Sensitivity; emotional sentiment (often used for aesthetics or vibe).
gapbunssa (๊ฐ๋ถ์ธ)
Suddenly awkward atmosphere (abbreviation of "gapjagi bunwigiga ssahaejinda" - suddenly the atmosphere became cold).
geumsa (๊ธ์ฌ)
Falling in love quickly (from "geumsa-sarang-e ppajinda" - falling in love quickly).
gganbu (๊น๋ถ)
Friend; buddy (revived from Squid Game, can imply a close, trusted bond, potentially romantic).
gogi (๊ณ ๊ธฐ)
Meat (general term, but widely used when talking about BBQ or meat dishes).
gollan (๊ณค๋)
Difficulty; predicament; embarrassment (can refer to a tricky situation).
gopchang (๊ณฑ์ฐฝ)
Intestines (sometimes used as an insult meaning someone is disgusting or a gutless person).
go-ra-ngi (๊ณ ๋ผ๋)
A person who makes a lot of mistakes or is clumsy online (from "goh-rah-ni" - Korean water deer, which is known for being clumsy).
gukppong (๊ตญ๋ฝ)
Excessive nationalism; nationalistic intoxication (often used critically).
gwanjong (๊ด์ข )
Attention seeker; used to describe someone who dresses flashy to get attention.
hakwon (ํ์)
Private cram school or academy (where students go for extra lessons).
honbap (ํผ๋ฐฅ)
Eating alone (from "honja" - alone + "bap" - rice/meal).
hwaiting (ํ์ดํ )
Fighting!; Go for it!; Good luck! (Korean pronunciation of "fighting").
๐ฅ 63 upvoteshwaryeong-i (ํ๋ฃก์ด)
Someone who is a burden or trouble (literally "fire dragon," implies bringing trouble).
hyung (ํ)
Older brother (used by males to older males, also for close male friends).
๐ฅ 63 upvotesinsa-a-ssa (์ธ์ธ-์์ธ)
Describes whether a style is "in" or "out" (from "insider" and "outsider").
in-ssa (์ธ์ธ)
Insider; a popular person on social media or in a social group.
jeongsang (์ ์)
Normal; top; peak (can be used to confirm normalcy or excellence).
jib-cha (์ฐ์ฐจ)
SUV or 4x4 vehicle (from the brand "Jeep," but used generically).
jijeong (์ง์ )
Designated; specified (often used informally for a specific place or time).
jjaemsi (์ผ์)
Funny (abbreviation of "jaemi-itda" - to be fun/interesting).
jjae-sa (์งธ์ฌ)
To skip an online meeting or class (from "jjaelda" - to skip, + "sa" - four).
jjang (์งฑ)
Best; awesome; leader (informal, often used for approval).
jjeonda (์ฉ๋ค)
Awesome; amazing; incredible (stronger than daebak, often for something unexpected).
jumeokbap (์ฃผ๋จน๋ฐฅ)
Rice balls (often simple, quick-to-eat food).
kkaejeong (๊นจ์ )
Broken heart; heartbreak (short for "maeum-i kkaejida" - heart breaking).
kkamnol (๊น๋)
Shocked; surprised (abbreviation of "kkamjjak nollada" - to be very surprised).
kkondae (๊ผฐ๋)
An old person (especially a man) who is condescending and inflexible; boomer.
kkondae fashion (๊ผฐ๋ ํจ์ )
"Boomer" fashion; an outdated or old-fashioned style.
majjib (๋ง์ง)
A good restaurant; a "taste house" (often used when suggesting a date spot).
maknae (๋ง๋ด)
The youngest member of a K-pop group or a social group.
mamjjit (๋ง์ฐข)
Heart-wrenching; heartbreaking (from "ma-eum-i jjitgineun" - heart torn).
michin-nom (๋ฏธ์น๋)
Crazy bastard/guy (masculine form, "michin-nyeon" for female).
milttang (๋ฐ๋น)
Push and pull; playing hard to get (from "mil" - push, "dang" - pull).
misaeng (๋ฏธ์)
An unfinished life; someone still striving or incomplete (from a popular webtoon/drama).
๐ฅ 74 upvotesmom-jjang (๋ชธ์งฑ)
Best body; a person with a good physique.
munje (๋ฌธ์ )
Problem; issue (standard, but widely used informally).
noona (๋๋)
Older sister (used by males to older females, also for close female friends).
oppa (์ค๋น )
Older brother (used by females to older males, also for boyfriends/male friends).
ppaegom (๋นผ๊ผผ)
Peeking out; popping up (can be used for peeking at answers in an exam).
ppakgong (๋นก๊ณต)
Intense studying; studying very hard (from "ppakssaege gongbu").
ppakom (๋นก๊ณต)
Intense studying; studying very hard (from "ppakssaege gongbu").
saekki (์๋ผ)
Bastard; son of a bitch (can be very offensive, or milder among close friends depending on context).
saengka (์๊น)
To ignore; to pretend not to know (informal, sometimes rude).
sasaeng (์ฌ์)
An extreme, obsessive fan who stalks or invades the privacy of idols.
simkung (์ฌ์ฟต)
Heart throb; heart-stopping (used when seeing someone attractive or feeling a sudden romantic feeling).
ssom (์ธ)
The state of having a "something" going on with someone, but not officially dating.
ssom-bap (์ธ๋ฐฅ)
The "talking stage" of a relationship, but online only (from "ssom" + "bap" - rice/meal).
suseoeng (์๋ฅ)
CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test), the nationwide college entrance exam.
tteokbokki (๋ก๋ณถ์ด)
Spicy rice cakes; popular street food and snack.
tteokttul (๋ก๋ค)
Blockhead; thick-headed (from "tteok" - rice cake, implying density).
uljjang (์ผ์งฑ)
Best face; a person with a good-looking face (from "eolgul" - face + "jjang" - best).
uljjang (์ผ์งฑ)
Best face; someone with a very attractive face (from "eolgul" (face) + "jjang").
unnie (์ธ๋)
Older sister (used by females to older females, also for close female friends).
yashik (์ผ์)
Late-night snack/meal (very common culture of ordering late-night food).