Latest posts (page 7)
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본가 (bonga) — The Home That Only Exists Once You've Left It
Ask a Korean friend what they're doing for the holidays and nine times out of ten you'll get the same answer: "나 **본가 (bonga)** 내려가." (na **bonga** naeryeoga —
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본캐 (bonkae) — The Self You Come Back To, No Matter How Many Alter Egos You Add
You're watching a Korean variety show. A cast member who has spent the whole episode running around under an unfamiliar name in an unfamiliar outfit suddenly sn
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챌린지 (chaellinji) — the word you'll hear far more often than "도전" in Korea these days
**챌린지 (chaellinji)** originally comes from the English word "challenge," the same idea as **도전 (dojeon)**. But today in Korea, when someone says **챌린지 (chaellin
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청국장 (cheonggukjang) — The Fermented Stew That Scares You with Its Smell and Wins You Over with Its Taste
**청국장 (cheonggukjang)** means a kind of soybean paste made by fermenting boiled soybeans — or the stew you cook with it. If you open the front door at a Korean
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취향저격 (chwihyangjeogyeok) — The Moment Something Hits Your Taste Dead Center
**취향저격 (chwihyangjeogyeok)** describes the feeling when an object, a song, a shop, or a piece of work fits your taste so exactly that it's as if someone took ai
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사이버 렉카 (saibeo rekka) — The Name for Whoever Reaches the Crash Site First
When something blows up on the Korean internet, the first thing to arrive at the scene isn't a reporter or the police. It's a video. Within hours of a story bre
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닭강정 (dakgangjeong) — the Korean fried chicken that's actually better cold
Today's expression is **닭강정 (dakgangjeong)**. It means bite-sized pieces of chicken that are fried twice and then tossed in a sticky sauce made from corn syrup
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데이트코스 (deiteukoseu) — The Answer Isn't Complete Until You Say What Comes After Dinner
Once weekend plans are set, Korean conversations move straight to the next question: "그래서 어디 갈 건데? (geuraeseo eodi gal geonde?)" — "So where are you going?" But
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드리다 (deurida) — The One Word That Raises the Person Receiving
**드리다 (deurida)** is the honorific form of **주다 (juda)**, “to give” — to hand something to another person so they can have it or use it. The hand motion is exac
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돌잔치 (doljanchi) — Why the Whole Family Gathers for a Baby's First Birthday
**돌잔치 (doljanchi)** means a feast held to celebrate a child's first birthday. A buffet restaurant on a Saturday afternoon, a balloon arch standing at the entran
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돈쭐내다 (donjjullaeda) — the Korean slang for punishing someone with money instead of a scolding
**돈쭐내다 (donjjullaeda)** is what happens when word gets out that a shop has done something kind and customers deliberately flock there to buy things and push up
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뒤끝 없다 (dwikkeut eopda) — Why Someone Who Had a Huge Fight With You Yesterday Asks "밥 먹었어? (bap meogeosseo?)" This Morning
**뒤끝 없다 (dwikkeut eopda)** means not keeping bad feelings in your heart after a fight or an unpleasant incident. Picture the scene: the person who was raising t
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뒷담화 (dwitdamhwa) — The Word for What Starts Three Seconds After Someone Walks Out
**뒷담화 (dwitdamhwa)** means running someone down behind their back when they aren't in the room — and it also means the talk itself. That conversation that kicks
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억까 (eok-kka) — “Isn't That Just Nitpicking to Tear Someone Down?”
**억까 (eok-kka)** means tearing someone down by forcing a flaw onto them when the evidence doesn't really support it — or that kind of unfair criticism itself. W
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어묵 (eomuk) — The One Word You Learn in Front of a Winter Street Stall, and How Far It Sits from '오뎅 (oden)'
**어묵 (eomuk)** means a food made by mashing fish flesh, kneading it with salt, flour, and the like, and then cooking it. On a Korean winter evening, when you co
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음방 (eumbang) — Why a Line Forms Outside the TV Station on Friday Evenings
At six o'clock on a Friday evening, a slightly odd scene unfolds outside the broadcasting stations of Yeouido, Seoul. People holding matching light sticks stand
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갬성 (gaemseong): The Word You Get When a Single ㅣ Sneaks Into 감성
갬성 is a playfully twisted version of 감성, and it means the state of being completely soaked in a mood — or the photos, music, and places that are clearly going f
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갈비탕 (galbitang) — The One Bowl of Soup That Shows Up at Weddings and at Hangover Lunches
**갈비탕 (galbitang)** means a soup made by chopping beef ribs into pieces and simmering them for a long, long time. The situations where this word gets said in Ko
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감자전 (gamjajeon) — The Words Koreans Reach For While Watching the Rain
When the monsoon rain starts drumming against the window, Koreans almost reflexively say the same thing: **비 온다. 감자전이나 부칠까? (bi onda. gamjajeonina buchilkka?)**
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간이 크다 (gani keuda) — Why Does Korean Talk About Your Liver When It Means "Fearless"?
**간이 크다 (gani keuda)** means to be fearless and daring — to calmly go ahead and do the kind of thing an ordinary person would be too scared to attempt. A friend
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금수저 (geumsujeo) — What Some People Are Already Holding at Birth
**금수저 (geumsujeo)** refers to someone born into a wealthy family who started out in an advantageous position from day one, thanks to their parents' money and co
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괜찮으세요? — One Phrase for "Are You Okay?" and "Would You Mind?"
**괜찮으세요? (gwaenchaneuseyo?)** is a polite way of asking whether someone is all right — in body or in mind — or of checking that whatever you're about to do won'
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광안리 (Gwangalli) — The Beach Where Busan Locals Gather at Night
Gwangalli is a place name that covers two things at once: a beach in Busan's Suyeong-gu district, and the neighborhood sitting right in front of it. In Roman le
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귀성길 (gwiseonggil) — The Road You Take Even If It's Eight Hours Long
**귀성길 (gwiseonggil)** means the road you travel down to your hometown to see your parents over a holiday. As 설날 (seollal, Lunar New Year) or 추석 (chuseok, Korean
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계란말이 (gyeranmari) — The Side Dish With the Recipe Built Into Its Name
계란말이 (gyeranmari) means a dish made by pouring beaten egg into a pan and rolling it up as it fries. When a Korean hears this word, the picture that comes to min
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계란빵 (gyeranppang) — The Winter Street-Stall Bread Your Hands Remember First
**계란빵 (gyeranppang)** literally means "bread made by putting egg into flour dough and steaming or baking it." If you've ever walked past a street stall on a win
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~해 주시겠어요? — The Temperature at Which a Request Lands: Korean's Most Careful Way to Ask
**~해 주시겠어요? (~hae jusigesseoyo?)** means making a request by first asking about the other person's willingness — "would you be willing to do that for me?" — and
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해피엔딩 (haepiending) — The Word Flying Around at 11 p.m. on Finale Night
**해피엔딩 (haepiending)** means an ending where the story finishes happily, exactly the way you hoped it would. It's a loanword lifted straight from the English *h
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해운대 (haeundae): The Name of a Beach — and of a Neighborhood Where People Live
**해운대 (haeundae)** is a stretch of coastline in Haeundae-gu, Busan — a tourist destination famous for its hot springs, its swimming beach, and its beautiful sce
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호캉스 (Hokangseu) — The Vacation That Doesn't Go Far: Your Suitcase, Thirty Minutes by Subway
**호캉스 (hokangseu)** means a short vacation you spend holed up in a hotel instead of traveling far. No flight. No sightseeing itinerary planned down to the hour.
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회빙환 (hoebinghwan) — Regression, Possession, Reincarnation: Stories About Living Life Over Again
**회빙환 (hoebinghwan)** is a single word that bundles three others together — 회귀 (hoegwi, regression), 빙의 (bingui, possession), and 환생 (hwansaeng, reincarnation).
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훈남 (hunnam) — The Word That Praises Warmth Over Good Looks
**훈남 (hunnam)** is short for **훈훈한 남자 (hunhunhan namja)**, and it describes a man whose features aren't so much chiseled as they are warm — someone whose presen
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Hyeong, Nuna — Why Koreans Don't Call Each Other by Name
**형/누나 (hyeong/nuna)** is a pairing of two words: **형 (hyeong)**, what a man calls a man older than himself, and **누나 (nuna)**, what a man calls a woman older t
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이불킥 (ibulkik) — The Memory That Makes You Kick Off Your Blanket at Night
Midnight. You turned off the light and lay down. And of course, that is exactly the moment it comes back to you — the joke you cracked all by yourself at a comp
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일코 (ilko) — The Art of Tucking Your Fandom Out of Sight for a While
**일코 (ilko)** is short for **일반인 코스프레 (ilbanin koseupeure)**, or 'ordinary-person cosplay.' It means being someone who is completely obsessed with something whi
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인급동 (ingeupdong) — Three Syllables Born on a YouTube Screen, and How Koreans Actually Use Them
**인급동 (ingeupdong)** is a shortened form of **인기 급상승 동영상 (ingi geupsangseung dongyeongsang)**, “rapidly rising popular videos” — YouTube’s trending list. It ref
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인사동 (Insadong) — The Traditional Culture Street Still Standing in the Middle of Seoul
인사동 (Insadong) is a *dong* — an administrative neighborhood — in Jongno-gu, Seoul, famous as a traditional culture street and visited by crowds of tourists. If
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Inseong-nollan — The Word Koreans Ask About Before Talent
**인성논란 (inseong-nollan)** means an incident in which word spreads that someone's character and attitude were bad, and the public starts arguing loudly about wha
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인연 (inyeon) — The Korean Word That Gives a Meeting a Reason
**인연 (inyeon)** means the relationship formed between people, or between a person and a thing — and it points to the reason or the backstory behind that relatio
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이생망 (isaengmang) — Four Syllables That Toss Out “This Life Is Ruined” Like a Joke
**이생망 (isaengmang)** is a four-syllable shortening of **이번 생은 망했다 (ibeon saeng-eun manghaetda)**, “this life of mine is ruined” — meaning this go at life is alr
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자취 (jachwi) — What's Left Behind After Something Disappears
자취 (jachwi) means a mark or trace that something has left behind. The little snack shop in the alley you walked past for ten years closes one day, and all that'
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재택근무 (jaetaekgeunmu) — How to Say "I Work from Home" in Korean
**재택근무 (jaetaekgeunmu)** means doing your company's work from home, using the internet and similar tools. If you've ever spotted an office worker in sweats pick
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잖아요 — The Sentence Ending for Bringing Up Something You Both Already Know
**잖아요 (janayo)** means "a sentence ending you attach when you bring up a fact the listener already knows, in order to confirm it with them." It isn't a way of d
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잡수시다 (japsusida) — The Highest Honorific for '먹다 (meokda),' the One That Only Comes Out at Grandma's Table
**잡수시다 (japsusida)** is the honorific form of **먹다 (meokda)**, "to eat" — the word used when an elder is having a meal and you want to raise that person as high
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저희 (jeohui) — The Word That Bows From the Very First Word
**저희 (jeohui)** is **우리 (uri)**, "we / our," taken down one notch. It is a humble form: a speaker uses it in front of someone of higher standing to refer to a g
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정략결혼 (jeongnyak-gyeolhon) — The Marriage Made by Calculation, Not Love
**정략결혼 (jeongnyak-gyeolhon)** means a marriage arranged not out of two people's affection, but for the benefit of families, companies, or political powers. Pict
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전주 (jeonju) Means "Last Week" — So Why Is It on Your Train Ticket Too?
**전주 (jeonju)** means "the week immediately before this one" — in other words, last week. Sit through a Monday-morning meeting at a Korean company and you are g
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직관 (jikgwan) — The Day You Finally See With Your Own Eyes a Stage You'd Only Watched on a Screen
**직관 (jikgwan)** means the act of grasping something the moment you encounter it, without going through any process of thinking — in other words, “intuition.” O
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Jjajangmyeon — A Bowl of Black Noodles Eaten Off a Stack of Moving Boxes
**짜장면 (jjajangmyeon)** means a dish in which noodles are mixed with a sauce made by stir-frying meat, vegetables and other ingredients in Chinese-style soybean
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Jjamba — The Skill Time Leaves in Your Fingertips
**짬바 (jjamba)** is a Korean neologism for the seasoned know-how that soaks into the body of someone who has done the same work for years — in other words, the s