Latest posts (page 4)
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팀플 (timpeul) — The Two Syllables Korean College Students Dread Most Every Semester
**팀플 (timpeul)** is the clipped form of **팀 프로젝트 (tim peurojekteu, "team project")** — a school assignment that several people have to pull off together as one
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퇴사 (toesa) — Two Meanings in the Dictionary, One Meaning in the Office
**퇴사 (toesa)** means quitting the company you've been working at and walking away from it. You know that scene in Korean dramas where the main character drops a
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떡꼬치 (tteok-kkochi) — Korean You Learn in the Alley Outside School
**떡꼬치 (tteok-kkochi)** means a Korean street food made by cutting **가래떡 (garae-tteok, cylindrical rice cake)** into short pieces, threading three or four of the
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Tteokgalbi — Why Call It Tteokgalbi When There's No Rice Cake in It?
The first time most people see these three syllables on a Korean menu, they stop for a second. 떡 (tteok, rice cake)? 갈비 (galbi, ribs)? Why are those two stuck t
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완결 (wangyeol) — '끝났다 (kkeutnatda)' and '완결됐다 (wangyeoldwaetda)' Are Not the Same
완결 (wangyeol) means "bringing something completely to an end." If you love Korean dramas or webtoons, there's one thing you almost certainly check before starti
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웬수 (wensu) — The Person You Can't Stand but Can't Let Go Of: That One Word in Every Korean Family
**웬수 (wensu)** is what you call someone so close to you that cutting them off isn't an option — even when they drive you absolutely crazy. In other words, it me
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위버스 (wibeoseu) — The App Where Artists and Fans Talk to Each Other Directly, and How Korean Fans Actually Say It
**위버스 (wibeoseu)** is the name of a K-pop fan community app where artists post their own writing and videos and fans leave comments right underneath. This word
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워맨스 (womaenseu) — Not Love, But It Feels Like It: Friendship Between Women
**워맨스 (womaenseu)** is a word for a deep, burning friendship between two women, described in the language of romance. They aren't a couple, but they're as absor
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워킹홀리데이 (wokinghollidei) — A Year of Working and Traveling: Korean Youth's Rite of Passage
**워킹홀리데이 (wokinghollidei)** refers to a system in which two countries sign an agreement so that young people within a set age range can travel *and* work legall
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야근 (yageun) — When Quitting Time Has Passed and You're Still at Your Desk
**야근 (yageun)** means work you keep doing past quitting time, on into the night. You could have left on time, but you didn't — you stayed at your desk and kept
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열대야 (yeoldaeya) — The Korean Summer Nights That Never Cool Down
**열대야 (yeoldaeya)** means a very hot night — one where the outside temperature never drops below 25 degrees Celsius. From late July to mid-August in Korea, nigh
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Today's Korean Expression: 열연 (yeollyeon) — The Hottest Praise Left Behind After the Curtain Call
**열연 (yeollyeon)** means taking on a role and acting it with everything you have — or the performance that comes out of it. The SNS timeline on the night a Kore
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여름휴가 (yeoreumhyuga) — The Few Days at the End of July and the Start of August When the Whole Country Steps Away at Once
**여름휴가 (yeoreumhyuga)** refers to people who attend school or work at a company taking time off during the summer — literally, "vacation taken in summer." Once
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유행 (yuhaeng) — Hairstyles and Colds Both “Go Around” with the Same Word
**유행 (yuhaeng)** is the word for something catching on with people and spreading across society as a whole — and, at the same time, for an infectious disease sp
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윷놀이 (yunnori) — The Moment the Living Room Floor Gets Loudest on Seollal
**윷놀이 (yunnori)** means a game in which players split into teams and take turns throwing yut sticks, moving their pieces around the yut board to compete for the
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유리멘탈 (yurimental) — A Heart That Breaks Like Glass, and How Koreans Poke Fun at Themselves
**유리멘탈 (yurimental)** — literally "glass mental" — describes a heart that breaks as easily as glass: a fragile mental toughness that gets badly shaken and caves
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애교살 (aegyosal) — The Little Line Under Your Eyes That Only Shows When You Smile, and the First Face Word Every K-pop Fan Learns
**애교살 (aegyosal)** refers to the thin, slightly plump ridge of flesh that appears just below the lower eyelid when you smile. In Korea, having a prominent one i
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애증 (aejeung) — The Feeling of Hating Something and Still Not Letting Go
When you watch Korean dramas, there are scenes where "love-hate" pops up in the English subtitles. The moment an older brother glares at his younger brother but
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아귀찜 (agwijjim) — the name that jumps out first when winter work dinners come up
On a winter evening, when someone says "What should we eat tonight?" in an alley on the way home from work, there's one name that has a very high chance of jump
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앙숙 (angsuk) — The Pair Who Clash Every Time They Meet, So Why Do They Never Walk Away?
**앙숙 (angsuk)** means a relationship in which two people hold a grudge and hate each other. It doesn't describe one big blowup and done — it points to a relatio
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아역배우 (ayeokbaeu) — The Actor We Meet First, in the Episode 1 Flashback
Press play on episode 1 of a Korean drama and there's a scene that shows up almost without fail. The lead remembers something, the screen goes soft, and the nex
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백일 (baegil) — The Hundredth Day Since a Baby Came Into the World
**백일 (baegil)** means the hundredth day counting from the day a child was born. It points to that one single day — the day a baby has been in the world for exac
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백댄서 (baekdaenseo) — Not the Back of the Stage, but Half of It
**백댄서 (baekdaenseo)** refers to a professional dancer who dances behind or beside a singer or lead performer and completes the stage. If you've ever watched a K
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백숙 (baeksuk) — One Bowl, Simmered Long Without Seasoning: The Korean of the Dog Days
When summer reaches its peak, shops with huge cauldrons puffing out white steam open up in a row at the mouths of Korea's mountain valleys and along market alle
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밥맛이다 (bammasida) — "You Put Me Off My Food"
**밥맛이다 (bammasida)** describes someone whose words or attitude are so off-putting that the very thought of food goes away — in plain terms, "that person is the
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반반무많이 (banbanmumanhi) — A Whole Chicken Order in Five Syllables
**반반무많이 (banbanmumanhi)** means “make the chicken half seasoned and half plain fried, and give me lots of pickled radish.” Nine o’clock on a Friday night: a voi
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반갑습니다 (bangapseumnida) — The Greeting for Moments When Meeting Itself Becomes a Joy
**반갑습니다 (bangapseumnida)** is a greeting that means "I'm glad to meet you." Once you start learning Korean, it's one of the first phrases you run into after **안
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번아웃 (beonaut) — The Word That's Left After Everything Has Burned Down
**번아웃 (beonaut)** refers to the state you end up in after trying hard for so long that the fuel in your body and mind has burned all the way down — no strength
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비하인드 (bihaindeu) — The Other Camera That Switches On Backstage
**비하인드 (bihaindeu)** refers to behind-the-scenes footage shot on the other side of a finished stage, video, or work — or to the untold story behind it. A few da
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비주얼 담당 (bijueol damdang) — The Member Who Handles the "Face" of a K-pop Group
If you leave a music-show rerun playing and watch a rookie group perform, there's always that moment when the camera lingers on one member far longer than on an
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비밀연애 (bimil-yeonae) — The Moment It Becomes Something Only the Two of You Know
**비밀연애 (bimil-yeonae)** means a relationship that two people keep going without telling anyone around them — a romance only the two of them know about. When you
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본부장 (bonbujang) — Above 부장님 (bujang-nim), But Where Exactly?
**본부장 (bonbujang)** means the person who takes charge of and leads a 본부 (bonbu) — an organizational unit that bundles several departments into one — or the job
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벼룩시장 (byeoruksijang) — The Place Where You Become a Merchant for Just One Day
**벼룩시장 (byeoruksijang)** means “a market where secondhand goods are bought and sold cheaply.” On a Saturday morning, mats get spread out in one corner of an apa
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첫사랑 (cheotsarang) — the most wistful two syllables in Korean: the love you felt first
**첫사랑 (cheotsarang)** means “the love one did first” — the feeling of coming to like someone for the very first time in your life, or the person who stirred tha
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초당옥수수 (chodangoksusu) — The Summer Corn You Just Bite Into, No Boiling Required
**초당옥수수 (chodangoksusu)** is the word for a summer corn variety so sweet you can bite straight into it raw — no boiling, no steaming. Once late June rolls aroun
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촉이 좋다 (chogi jota) — The Person Who Just Knows, Without Being Able to Explain Why
**촉이 좋다 (chogi jota)** means having an unusually sharp sense for what's coming, or for what someone is really thinking — catching it before anyone else does, wi
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축의금 (chuguigeum) — The Weight of Congratulations Tucked Into a Korean Wedding Envelope
**축의금 (chuguigeum)** means money you hand over at a happy occasion — a wedding, a first-birthday party — to express your congratulations. It is the very first w
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취준생 (chwijunsaeng): The Three Syllables Koreans Bring Up Most Carefully
**취준생 (chwijunsaeng)** is the shortened form of **취업 준비생 (chwieop junbisaeng)**, "a person preparing for employment" — in other words, someone who is still look
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대표님 (daepyonim) — When Two Syllables on a Business Card Become the Name People Call You
A week ago they were "에밀리 씨 (Emily-ssi)." Then they get a business card printed, and from the following week they are suddenly called by a different name. **대표님
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닭살 돋다 (daksal dotda) — Saying "Cringe" With Your Skin, in Korean
**닭살 돋다 (daksal dotda)** describes that uncomfortable, prickly feeling — as if tiny bumps were rising all over your skin — that hits you when you run into words
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데뷔조 (debwijo) — Six Years of Holding On for the Three Seconds Your Name Is Called
**데뷔조 (debwijo)** means the trainees at an idol agency who have actually been picked to debut as a team — literally, "the group whose debut is confirmed." They'
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등산 (deungsan) — Why Koreans Head for the Mountains Every Weekend Morning
**등산 (deungsan)** means going up a mountain for the purpose of exercise, recreation, and the like. You are more likely to meet this word on the subway than in a
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들어오세요 (deureooseyo) — The One Phrase That Calls the Guest at Your Door Inside
**들어오세요 (deureooseyo)** is a polite way of asking someone who is outside a door — or outside in general — to "please come in." When someone knocks on your offic
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돌직구 (doljikgu) — The People Who Don't Talk Around It and Throw It Straight Down the Middle
**돌직구 (doljikgu)** means saying what you have to say straight out, without stopping to check the other person's position or feelings — or the remark itself, del
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돌아가시다 (doragasida) — The Word Koreans Speak Most Carefully
**돌아가시다 (doragasida)** is the honorific form of **죽다 (jukda)**, "to die." It means that an elder — or anyone you're expected to respect — has lost their life. E
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도련님 (doryeonnim) — Not Just a Word from Historical Dramas
**도련님 (doryeonnim)** is an honorific term for an unmarried man, and it's also the title a wife uses to refer to or address her husband's unmarried younger broth
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됐어 (dwaesseo) — The Two Syllables That Refuse and Finish at the Same Time
**됐어 (dwaesseo) is a casual expression that means "you can stop, I don't need any more" — a refusal — while at the same time meaning "it's all done, everything'
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뒷목 잡다 (dwinmok japda) — Why Koreans Grab the Back of Their Neck When They Get Angry
**뒷목 잡다 (dwinmok japda)** describes the state of being so exasperated, or so angry, that you feel like you're about to keel over backwards. Read literally, it's
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엔딩요정 (endingyojeong) — The Person Who Steals Your Heart in the Last Three Seconds
Sunday night, 11 p.m. The final episode of a 12-episode drama is winding down. Every loose end has been tied up and the music fades out. But for the last three
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어장관리 (eojang-gwalli) — The Person Who Won't Reel You In or Let You Go
**어장관리 (eojang-gwalli)** means keeping several people who have feelings for you close by without dating any of them — giving each one just enough attention that