The literal meaning of ‘오징어 지킴이’ is a squid keeper. The word is a derogatory term for a woman who is overly protective of her husband/boyfriend. Calling someone ‘오징어 지킴이’ implies that no one cares to steal her husband/boyfriend because he is not that attractive in the first place.
It has been for a while that the word ‘오징어’ has been used to indicate an ugly person. It originated from a famous anecdote posted on the internet. In the anecdote, a woman went to see a movie with her boyfriend. On the day, a famous movie star Jang Dong-gun was at the movie theater for a stage greeting event. The woman looked at the actor and thought, “He is not as handsome as I expected.” Right after that, the woman turned her head and looked at her boyfriend. A squid was sitting there.
After this anecdote was spread on the internet as a humor, people started to use ‘오징어’ as a synonym for an ugly person, especially an ugly guy.
Although ‘오징어 지킴이’ is somewhat an offensive term, it also contains a satire about the male favoritism prevalent in the Korean society. In a way, it’s a criticism against women who think very highly of their men, to an unreasonable extent.
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