What happens when you combine a defiant “So what?” with a random household appliance? You get eojjeol-TV (어쩔티비). Asking why may already miss the point when it comes to this choding-led lingo. Eojjeol-TV to Jiral Sofa: Anatomy of a Random Mashup Eojjeol (어쩔) is a shorthand form of eojjeorago (“So what?”). The addition of “TV,”…

The term oetoven (외토벤) is a portmanteau of the Korean word for “foreigner” (oegugin) and “Beethoven.” It is a popular slang term used to describe international composers who produce music for K-pop. Originally, the expression was used with a bit of hyperbole to suggest that these foreign producers possessed a level of musical genius that…

Explore how Korean neologisms use the ‘four-character aura’ of traditional sajaseong-eo to turn modern slang into profound mini-philosophies of life.

Have you ever wondered why Koreans call certain YouTubers ‘Wrecker’ (렉카)? The term has evolved from a simple word for a tow truck into a metaphor for yellow journalism in Korea. Rek-kah (렉카) is how Koreans pronounce “wrecker,” which means a tow truck. Nowadays, the word is frequently used to refer to yellow journalism on…

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…

‘할많하않’ is simply an abbreviation of “할 말은 많지만 하지 않는다,” which means, “I have a lot to say but I won’t.” It’s one of the example where a plain sentence gained a deeper meaning and became a thing when people abbreviated it. Traditionally, Koreans use a lot of four character idioms that originated from…

‘판춘문예’ is a certain type of writing style that is a trademark of the website called Nate Pann. Nate is an internet portal service that has been around since 1999. The portal had its short heyday in the mid-to-late 2000s, with its integration with Cyworld, a Korean social media service, and the success of Nate…

‘덕질[deok-jil]’ is one of the words that show how dynamically Korean words can evolve. Let’s look at the etymology. The second syllable of the word, ‘질[jil]’ is a common Korean suffix. It is attached to nouns and makes the word mean an action related to the noun. For example, the word, ‘손가락질[son-ga-rak-jil],’ is a combination…

If you have been browsing the Korean internet for a while, you might have encountered the word, ‘움짤[oom-jjal].’ ‘움짤’ refers to a short video clip that is usually in the GIF format. It’s one of the internet slang words that originated in the early days of the internet in Korea. Let’s look at the etymology…