Latest posts (page 10)
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급발진 (geupbaljin) — The Moment Someone Goes From Perfectly Still to Suddenly Flooring It
**급발진 (geupbaljin)** describes what happens when a person who was sitting there perfectly calm suddenly — with zero warning — gets angry or worked up, and their
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기억상실 (gieoksangsil) — The Word Korean Dramas Love Most
Watch even a handful of Korean dramas and there's one word you're guaranteed to run into: **기억상실 (gieoksangsil)**. **기억상실 refers to losing your memory of things
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김칫국 마시다 (gimchitguk masida) — Nobody Has Even Thought About Giving You Rice Cake Yet
**김칫국 마시다 (gimchitguk masida)** literally means "to drink the kimchi broth." It describes deciding all on your own that a good outcome is already yours — gettin
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Gunssak — When Your Mouth Reacts Before You Do
**군싹 (gunssak)** is internet slang, a shortened form of **군침이 싹 도네 (gunchimi ssak done)** — "my mouth is watering." It means something looks so good that just s
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계산해 주세요 (gyesanhae juseyo) — The Phrase You'll Use at Least Once a Day in a Korean Restaurant
**계산해 주세요 (gyesanhae juseyo)** is what you say to a server or shop clerk to ask, "I'm ready to pay now, so please add up what I owe." If you've ever eaten out i
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계시다 (gyesida) — The Word You Use When an Elder "Is" Somewhere
**계시다 (gyesida)** is the honorific way of saying that a person of high standing or an elder is in — or lives in — a certain place. It's the honorific form of 있다
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계약결혼 (gyeyakgyeolhon) — The Contract They Sign in Episode 3 and Tear Up in Episode 12
**계약결혼 (gyeyakgyeolhon)** means a relationship in which two people settle on a time frame and a set of conditions in advance, agree to take on only the outward
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한복 (hanbok) — Not Just the Outfit You Pull Out on Seollal Morning
On the first morning of the Seollal holiday, the apartment elevator doors open and someone is standing there dressed nothing like usual. Roomy sleeves, a skirt
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Hanok Maeul — Under the Tiled Roofs, a Neighborhood Where People Still Live
**한옥마을 (hanok maeul)** means a place where a number of hanok — traditional Korean houses roofed with tile or thatch — stand together and make up a single neighb
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핫플 (hatpeul) — The Very Spot Everyone's Rushing to Right Now
**핫플 (hatpeul)** means the place people are flocking to most these days — a spot sitting right in the middle of the trend. It was made by shortening the English
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흑화하다 (heukhwahada) — The Moment the Sweet One Turns
There are moments while watching a drama when the comment section suddenly gets loud. It's the moment when the main character — who has spent twelve episodes sm
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힐링 (hilling) — The Smallest Way Koreans Get Through the Day
Ask a Korean friend what they did over the weekend, and three or four out of ten will finish their answer with this one word. After the story about wherever the
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회귀 (hoegwi) — Why Do Drama Leads Keep Going Back to the Past?
**회귀 (hoegwi)** means going all the way around and arriving back where you started. Watch Korean dramas these days and there is no avoiding this word. The lead
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훈훈하다 (hunhunhada) — Why Korean Calls the Warmth of a Room and the Warmth of a Heart by the Same Name
On a winter evening, there's that moment when you step through someone else's front door and your glasses instantly fog up white. **훈훈하다 (hunhunhada)** means wa
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황당하다 (hwangdanghada) — The Moment Words Fail You, Right Before the Anger Arrives
**황당하다 (hwangdanghada)** means that someone's words or actions are insincere and downright absurd. You use it when something happens that makes no sense front t
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환승 (hwanseung): The Word the Station Announcements Teach You Every Day
Once the subway doors close, almost every single time the same announcement comes on. “이번 역은 ○○역입니다. △호선으로 갈아타실 분은 이번 역에서 내리시기 바랍니다.” (“This stop is ○○ Station.
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Jachebalgwang — The Word for Someone Who Shines Without Any Lighting
**자체발광 (jachebalgwang)** means "to give off light on one's own." It's the word you reach for when a person looks bright and eye-catching all by themselves — no
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재회 (jaehoe) — The Word That Took Ten Years to Meet Again
**재회 (jaehoe)** means “a meeting again, or a second meeting.” Going by the definition alone, bumping into someone today whom you already saw yesterday would cou
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잡채 (japchae) — The Name That Sits in the Middle of the Table on a Celebration Day
**잡채 (japchae)** means a dish made by cutting a variety of vegetables and meat into thin strips, stir-frying them in oil, and mixing them together with glass no
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저기요 (jeogiyo) — The Three Syllables for Calling Someone Whose Name You Don't Know
**저기요 (jeogiyo)** is what you say when you want to politely get the attention of someone whose name or title you don't know — it's the closest Korean equivalent
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정색하다 (jeongsaekhada) — The Moment a Smiling Face Freezes in One Second
**정색하다 (jeongsaekhada)** means to freeze a smiling or relaxed face in an instant and put on a sharp, stern expression. The spot where this word shows up in Kore
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전통시장 (jeontong sijang) — Where the Free Extra Comes Before the Price
**전통시장 (jeontong sijang)** means a traditional-style market: merchants who have been rooted in one neighborhood for a long time open small shops along the alley
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진지 드세요 (jinji deuseyo) — The Highest Honorific, Saved for Grandma's Table
**진지 드세요 (jinji deuseyo)** is the most elevated way to say "please eat" — the top tier of Korean honorific speech, used when inviting an elder like a grandfathe
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집콕 (jipkok) — What Koreans Say on a Day They Don't Want to Leave the House
**집콕 (jipkok)** means burrowing into your home and staying put instead of going out. There are Friday evenings when you're not really sick and the weather isn't
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족발 (jokbal): The Late-Night Spread That Needs No Dishes
**족발 (jokbal)** means a pig's foot — or the dish made by braising that foot for hours in a soy-sauce broth. In Korea, once it's past ten at night and someone sa
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존함 (jonham) — The Word That Lifts a Person's Name, and How High You Can Take It
**존함 (jonham)** is the word used to refer to another person's name with respect. Judging by meaning alone it's no different from **이름 (ireum)**, "name" — but in
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존잘/존예 (jonjal/jonye) — The Words That Jump Out Before You Can Think
**존잘 (jonjal) and 존예 (jonye) are Korean internet slang meaning "insanely handsome" and "insanely pretty," respectively.** The hundreds of comments that pile up
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중꺾마 (jung-kkeok-ma) — The Words You Reach For When You're Losing
**중꺾마 (jung-kkeok-ma)** is a contraction of **중요한 것은 꺾이지 않는 마음 (jungyohan geoseun kkeokkiji anneun ma-eum)** — "what matters is a heart that doesn't break" — bu
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클라스가 다르다 (keullaseuga dareuda) — Not Just "Good," But On a Whole Different Tier
**클라스가 다르다 (keullaseuga dareuda)** means that someone's skill or level is so far ahead that you can't even line them up next to everyone else for comparison. De
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빙의 (bingui) — "너 지금 누구 빙의했어?" (neo jigeum nugu binguihaesseo?) The One Word Every K-Drama Fan Knows
**빙의 (bingui)** means a spirit moving out of one place and attaching itself to another person or object. In everyday Korean conversation today, though, it's use
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저격 (jeogyeok) — the post that never names anyone, yet everyone knows who it's about
**저격 (jeogyeok)** means “aiming at a target and firing a gun.” Open the National Institute of Korean Language dictionary and that one line is the entire definit
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치킨 (chikin) — In Korea, 닭 (dak) and 치킨 (chikin) Are Two Different Foods
치킨 (chikin) means a dish of chopped-up chicken coated in flour or the like and then deep-fried or roasted. It looks like English *chicken* borrowed straight ove
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Today's Korean: 김치 (kimchi) — the Food You Don't Make, You 담그다 (damgeuda)
**김치 (gimchi)** means a food made by salting vegetables such as napa cabbage or radish, tossing them with seasoning, and letting them ferment. It is the first w
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맥주 (maekju) — Foam Brewed from Barley, and What “한잔하자 (hanjanhaja)” Really Means
**맥주 (maekju)** means a foamy alcoholic drink made mainly from fermented barley, with water, bitterness, and carbonation added. In Korea, the place this word po
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레전드 (lejeondeu): That Moment You'll Be Talking About for Years
**레전드 (lejeondeu)** means “a moment, a scene, or a person so amazing — or, in the opposite direction, so absurd — that it refuses to be forgotten and keeps gett
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만 나이 (man nai) — The Korean Math That Makes You a Year Younger Overnight
**만 나이 (man nai)** means the age-counting system used by most of the world: you are 0 on the day you are born, and you add one year each time a birthday goes by
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만두 (mandu) — From the Seollal Breakfast Table to Winter Market Steamers, Korea's Plate of Dumplings
**만두 (mandu)** means a food made by rolling wheat dough into a thin wrapper and folding it around a filling of minced meat or vegetables. In Korea, the word doe
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마라샹궈 (marasyanggwo) — The Tongue-Numbing Stir-Fry You Pick with Tongs and Pay for by the Scale
마라샹궈 (marasyanggwo) means "a Chinese-style stir-fry made with ingredients you choose yourself, tossed in a numbingly spicy mala seasoning and cooked without any
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미쳤다 (michyeotda) — How a Word That Used to Be an Insult Became the Highest Compliment
**미쳤다 (michyeotda)** means that the degree of something has crossed the line of common sense. Literally it says a person's mind isn't sound, but the 미쳤다 that Ko
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밈 (mim) — The Word You Can't Follow Today If You Missed It Yesterday
**밈 (mim)** means a short piece of trending content that spreads online as people copy it and tweak it a little along the way — or the phrase, scene, or image t
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민망하다 (minmanghada) — When You've Done Nothing Wrong but Your Face Still Burns
민망하다 (minmanghada) means feeling too embarrassed to face someone or to look at something. You haven't done anything genuinely wrong, but your face goes hot and
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뮤비 (mubi) — Six O'Clock in the Evening on Comeback Day, the First Thing Korean Fans Say
**뮤비 (mubi)** is the shortened form of **뮤직비디오 (myujikbidio)**, "music video" — a film shot and directed separately for one single song. There's one setting whe
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무대매너 (mudae maeneo) — The Three Minutes of Attitude That Outlast the Song
**무대매너 (mudae maeneo)** means the attitude and bearing a performer — a singer, an actor — shows on stage, and above all the consideration they extend to the aud
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명동 (Myeongdong) — Seoul's Busiest Three Syllables, and How to Use Them Right
명동 (Myeongdong) is the name of a neighborhood in Jung-gu, central Seoul — a place so densely packed with department stores, cosmetics shops, and restaurants tha
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느끼하다 (neukkihada) — The Word That Comes Out on Your Fourth Slice of Pizza, and Why It's Risky to Use on a Person
**느끼하다 (neukkihada)** means food has so much oil in it that your stomach starts to turn. After grilling three servings of 삼겹살 (samgyeopsal), at the fourth slice
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노답 (nodap) — The Two-Syllable Word Koreans Use to Call a Situation Hopeless
**노답 (nodap)** is internet slang shortened from 답이 없다 (dabi eopda), "there's no answer." It means that no matter what you try, no solution is in sight. Think of
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뇌절 (noejeol) — How to Say 'Enough Already' in One Word
**뇌절 (noejeol)** means repeating the same words or actions so often that everyone watching gets sick of it — or pushing something well past the point where it s
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노포 (nopo) — The Shop Where a Faded Sign Is the Qualification
**노포 (nopo)** means an old shop that has kept its doors open in the same spot for decades. Walk the back alleys of Euljiro in Seoul or Choryang Market in Busan
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오바하다 (obahada) — "야, 그건 좀 오바 아니야?" The Word Koreans Use at Least Once a Day
**오바하다 (obahada)** means to act or react excessively — to go past the point the situation actually calls for. The friend who packs three umbrellas because rain
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오지랖 (ojirap) — How Did the Front of a Jacket Ever Come to Mean Meddling?
**오지랖 (ojirap)** originally refers to the front panel of a jacket or upper garment, but in everyday conversation today it means the attitude of butting into oth