Let's Learn K
Korean of the Day
Read the heart of the Korean language, expression by expression.
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부적 (bujeok) — The Red Paper Above the Door Frame, and the Word That's a Total Stranger to '부적절'
**부적 (bujeok)** is defined as a piece of paper with writing or a picture done in red, carried on the body or stuck up in the house in order to drive off evil sp
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부탁해 / 부탁드립니다 — Why Say '잘 부탁드립니다' When You're Not Actually Asking for Anything?
부탁해 / 부탁드립니다 (butakhae / butakdeurimnida) means "handing something that is my own burden over to you, and asking you to take good care of it." Watch Korean dram
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청첩장 (cheongcheopjang) — The Card That Only Goes to Weddings, and How It Differs from 초대장
**청첩장 (cheongcheopjang)** literally means "a card with writing on it asking someone to come to a wedding." Open an English dictionary and you'll see *invitation
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신점 (sinjeom): Not Saju at All — The Kind of Fortune-Telling That Asks the Spirits
During the first week of the new year, one line always makes the rounds in Korean group chats: “올해 운세 봤어? (Have you had your fortune read for this year?)” And s
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수고하세요 (sugohaseyo) — The Polite Greeting You Should Never Use With Your Boss
**수고하세요 (sugohaseyo)** is a greeting you hand to someone who is working right now, carrying the feeling of "you're working hard — keep it up." Stepping out the
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아무래도 (amuraedo) — The Word for When You've Already Decided but Won't Say So Outright
**아무래도 (amuraedo)** is an adverb meaning "no matter how much I think it over" or "no matter how I try to work it out." It's the word you place in front of a con
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안방 1열 (anbang il-yeol) — You Lost the Ticket War, But the Front Row Is Still Yours
The days when losing at ticketing meant you didn't get to see the show are over. **안방 1열 (anbang il-yeol)** is the word for the seat you take when you watch a p
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안방극장 (anbanggeukjang) — The Word That Turns Your Living Room into a Theater
**안방극장 (anbanggeukjang)** means the room in each household where people watch television — in other words, "a theater set up inside the house." Picture a Lunar
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아프시다 (apeusida) — The One-Syllable Difference for When the Person in Pain Is Your Elder
**아프시다 (apeusida)** is the verb **아프다 (apeuda)** with the honorific ending **-(으)시- (-(eu)si-)** attached to it. You use it to speak about someone's pain — of b
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배낭여행 (baenangnyeohaeng) — Travel with nothing but a backpack, the word Koreans pack their youth into
**배낭여행 (baenangnyeohaeng)** means travel you do freely and on very little money, carrying nothing but a backpack. The moments when this word comes out of a Kore
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발목 잡다 (balmok japda) — The Phrase for the Thing That Won't Let You Take a Single Step
**발목 잡다 (balmok japda)** means to hold a person or a project back from behind so they can't go any further forward. You want to change jobs, but the loan you're
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반존대 (banjondae) — Not casual, not polite: that awkward in-between temperature
**반존대 (banjondae)** means speech that mixes 존댓말 (jondaenmal, polite speech) and 반말 (banmal, casual speech) so that the speaker neither fully elevates the listen
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벅차다 (beokchada) — When Your Breath Fills Up and When Your Heart Fills Up, Koreans Reach for the Same Word
**벅차다 (beokchada)** is an adjective that holds three meanings at once: ① something is too hard to accomplish or endure, ② your heart is swelling with joy or hop
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비빔국수 (bibimguksu) — The Summer Bowl You Mix, No Broth Involved
**비빔국수 (bibimguksu)** means “noodles you eat by mixing them with meat, vegetables, and all sorts of seasonings, without any broth.” On a hot August afternoon —
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빈대떡 (bindaetteok) — A Rainy Day, and One Pancake of Ground Mung Beans
**빈대떡 (bindaetteok)** means a jeon — a pan-fried pancake — made by grinding mung beans that have been soaked in water, mixing in vegetables, meat and the like,
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복붙 (bokpput) — 'Copy and Paste,' and the Sound of 'Not Even Trying'
If you ask a Korean friend for their bank account number over KakaoTalk, nine times out of ten this is what comes back: **"잠깐만, 복붙해서 보낼게."** (jamkkanman, **bokp
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복수극 (boksugeuk) — The Name of the Story Korean Dramas Love Most
Whenever a conversation about Korean dramas gets going, there's one word that turns up almost in the very first sentence. **복수극 (boksugeuk)** means a drama, fil
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본진 (bonjin) — "So, where's your 본진?" The one word that asks where the center of your fandom life is
**본진 (bonjin)** means "the one group at the center of it all — the team you've cheered for the longest and the most deeply, even if you love several." Among K-p
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브로맨스 (beuromaenseu): The Friendship Between Men That K-Dramas Love Most
**브로맨스 (beuromaenseu)** is the word for a friendship between two men that has nothing to do with romantic feelings, yet still looks as special and as tender as
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부장님 (bujangnim) — The Title That Stays When the Name Disappears
**부장님 (bujangnim)** means an honorific way of addressing the manager who runs a department at a company. In English it comes out as *department head*, or *gener
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불꽃축제 (bulkkot-chukje) — Why Everyone Hauls a Picnic Mat to the Han River on an Autumn Night
**불꽃축제 (bulkkot-chukje)** means a large-scale event built around launching fireworks into the night sky. The core of the word is that it is an *event* — held on
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병맛 (byeongmat) — It Looks Badly Made, But You Can't Stop Watching
**병맛 (byeongmat)** describes something that is absurd, sloppy, and makes no logical sense — and is funny precisely because of that. Say you're watching YouTube
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벼락치기 (byeorakchigi) — The Korean Word You'll Hear Most the Night Before an Exam
**벼락치기 (byeorakchigi)** is the word for not preparing in advance and then, once the thing is right in front of your nose, rushing to get it all done at once. Th
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차도남 (chadonam) — the 차가운 도시 남자 "cold city man," or how to describe a K-drama male lead in one word
**차도남 (chadonam)** is a shortened form of **차가운 도시 남자 (chagaun dosi namja)**, "cold city man." It describes a guy who comes across as blunt and standoffish on t
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차례 (charye) — The 차례 in "It's Your Turn" and the 차례 of Lunar New Year Are Two Different Words
**차례 (charye)** means the order in which something is done or happens — and, by extension, the chance that comes to you when that order reaches your spot. Spend
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처음 뵙겠습니다 (cheoeum boepgetseumnida) — The Greeting You Only Get to Use Once in a Lifetime
**처음 뵙겠습니다 (cheoeum boepgetseumnida)** means "Today I am meeting you for the first time," and it is the most formal opening greeting you can offer someone you h
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처서 (cheoseo) — the day Koreans serve the heat its notice to leave, the two syllables that surface at the end of August
처서 (cheoseo) is one of the twenty-four solar terms, the one that means “the day the late-summer heat retreats,” and it lands around August 23 every year. Once t
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첫방 (cheotbang) — 10 p.m., the Moment Korean Drama Fans Are Most on Edge
**첫방 (cheotbang)** is the shortened form of **첫 방송 (cheot bangsong)**, "first broadcast" — the episode in which a drama, a variety show, or an idol group's come
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첫차 (cheotcha) — The One Vehicle That Stands at the Very Front of the Day
**첫차 (cheotcha)** means the first bus or train to leave on a given day. It's the one written on the top line of the timetable — the vehicle the whole day's serv
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초밥 (chobap) — It's Not 초밥 Without the Rice
**초밥 (chobap)** is the Korean word for the Japanese dish made by seasoning rice with vinegar and salt, pressing it into small mounds, and either laying fish on
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최종화 (choejonghwa) — The Word K-Drama Fans Say with the Most Tenderness
**최종화 (choejonghwa)** is the word for the very last installment of a story told across multiple parts — the "final episode" of a drama, a webtoon, or an anime.
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초통령 (chotongnyeong) — Number One If Elementary Schools Held a Vote: What Koreans Call the Star the Kids Picked
**초통령 (chotongnyeong)** means someone who is overwhelmingly popular among elementary school kids. It's made by gluing together the 초 of 초등학생 (chodeunghaksaeng,
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출생의 비밀 (chulsaeng-ui bimil) — K-Drama's Best-Loved Plot Twist, and How to Use It in Everyday Korean
**출생의 비밀 (chulsaeng-ui bimil)** refers to a hidden fact about the circumstances of someone's birth — above all, a concealed backstory about who their biological
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대환장 파티 (daehwanjang pati): The Five Syllables That Turn a Ruined Day Into a Laugh
**대환장 파티 (daehwanjang pati)** means "a situation where so many things go wrong at once that nobody can keep their head straight — an absolute mess." Plates are
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댕댕이 (daengdaengi) — The Word That Was Born When People Misread 멍멍이 with Their Eyes
**댕댕이 (daengdaengi)** is Korean internet slang for a dog or puppy — a cute, warm-hearted way to call one. Spend even a few minutes on Korean social media and yo
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대세 (daese) — How '요즘 대세야' Differs from a Passing Trend
**대세 (daese)** means the decisive current along which things are moving. Flipping through a magazine at the hair salon, in variety-show subtitles, in the hallwa
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닭볶음탕 (dakbokkeumtang) — the spicy chicken dish you gather around one pot for on a rainy day
**닭볶음탕 (dakbokkeumtang)** means a spicy chicken dish made by chopping chicken into pieces and simmering it with water and seasonings like garlic, soy sauce, and
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단호박 (danhobak) — the Korean slang for someone who tells it to you straight
**단호박 (danhobak)**, in the sense you'll find in the dictionary, is the name of a sweet-tasting squash — that round vegetable with dark green skin and bright yel
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드립치다 (deuripchida) — The One-Liner You Toss Out for a Laugh: The Humor Grammar of Young Korea
**드립치다 (deuripchida)** means to toss out a funny line off the cuff, just to get a laugh. It doesn't describe a gag you prepared in advance — it's the joke that
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돈까스 (donkkaseu) — Korea's Dining-Out Memories in One Cutlet Bigger Than the Plate
**돈까스 (donkkaseu)** means a dish made by pounding pork thin, seasoning it with salt and pepper, coating it in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs in that order, and dee
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돈맥경화 (donmaekgyeonghwa) — What Koreans Say When the Money Stops Flowing
Around the 25th of the month, when credit card bills come due, a familiar phrase starts floating around Korean group chats. The paycheck definitely landed, but
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뒷조사 (dwitjosa) — That Chilling K-Drama Line, "They Dug Into Your Past"
**뒷조사 (dwitjosa)** means looking closely into a person or a matter and digging things up without the other person noticing. Watch enough Korean dramas and you'l
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뒤통수 치다 (dwitongsu chida) — When the Person You Trusted Hits You from Behind
On the day someone they trusted betrays them, there's one phrase Korean speakers reach for first.
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엠티 (emti): Twenty People at Cheongnyangni Station and a Trip Built on Ten Packs of Pork Belly
**엠티 (emti)** means a short trip that people belonging to the same organization take together in order to grow closer to one another. Stand in front of a Korean
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얼빠 (eolppa) — "I Became a Fan Because of the Face"
**얼빠 (eolppa)** is Korean fandom slang for a person who became a fan of an idol or actor because of their **얼굴 (eolgul)** — their face, their looks. Not because
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개강 (gaegang) — In Korea, the Year Starts Twice: in March and in September
Twice a year, there's a day when the air in Korea's university districts changes all at once. The copy shop by the campus gate, empty for months, suddenly has a
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개연성 (gaeyeonseong) — The Word That Hits the Group Chat First When a K-Drama Finale Ends
**개연성 (gaeyeonseong) generally means the possibility that a given thing could happen.** Going by the dictionary definition alone, it sounds as stiff as a statis
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「각이다 (gagida)」 — One Look at the Sky and You Know: The Word Koreans Use to Read a Situation
If you're walking down the street with a Korean friend and the sky suddenly goes dark, your friend might say, “어, 비 올 각인데? (eo, bi ol gaginde?)” — “Uh, looks li
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감이 오다 (gami oda) — How to Say "I Think I'm Finally Getting It" in Korean
**감이 오다 (gami oda)** means that the knack or the flow of something starts to register faintly, until you reach the state of thinking, "Ah, so *that's* what this
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감정선 (gamjeongseon) — The One Word K-Drama Fans Save for the Very End
**감정선 (gamjeongseon)** means the entire flow of a character's feelings from beginning to end — the whole path a heart travels through a story, seen as a single