Culture
Korean expressions and words about Culture, with examples and translations. Learn Korean with LearnK.
Culture
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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국민템 (gungmintem): The Item Every Single Korean Supposedly Owns
**국민템 (gungmintem)** means "an item so widespread that supposedly every single person in the country owns one." Read it out loud and it's *gungmintem*; the actu
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광복절 (gwangbokjeol) — August 15th, the Day Korea 'Won Back the Light'
On the morning of August 15th, 태극기 (taegeukgi) — the Korean flag — goes up one by one along the railings of apartment balconies. **광복절 (gwangbokjeol)** is the n
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환갑 (hwangap) — The Day the Sixty-Year Cycle Comes Full Circle: the Sixtieth Birthday
**환갑 (hwangap)** means the sixtieth birthday — the birthday that arrives a full sixty years after a person was born. Watch enough Korean dramas and sooner or la
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휴학 (hyuhak) — Not Quitting School, but Taking a Break with Your Seat Still Waiting
**휴학 (hyuhak)** means taking a break from school for a set period of time. It does not mean quitting school altogether: your 학적 (hakjeok) — the record that keep
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인생작 (insaengjak) — When You Meet the Best Work of Your Life
Have you ever been unable to get out of your seat — the end credits finished rolling all the way to the last line, the theater lights came back on, and still yo
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저속노화 (jeosongnohwa) — Not Getting Younger, Just Aging More Slowly
**저속노화 (jeosongnohwa)** means slowing down the speed at which your body ages, using nothing but everyday habits. It isn't about becoming younger, and it isn't a
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졸혼 (jolhon) — It's Not a Divorce. You're Graduating from Marriage.
If you watch Korean variety shows or the news long enough, a subtitle like this will eventually appear on screen: **저희, 졸혼했습니다. (Jeohui, jolhon-haetseumnida.)**
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명함 (myeongham) — In Korea, the Slip of Paper You Hand Over Before Your Name
**명함 (myeongham)** means "a small piece of paper with your name, job, address, and contact details written on it, so that other people can know who you are." Tr
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노키즈존 (nokijeujon) — What That Single Sheet of A4 on the Door Is Really Saying
노키즈존 (nokijeujon) means a place where the business restricts entry for babies, toddlers, and children. On a weekend afternoon, if a brunch café has a single she
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온돌 (ondol) — Why Koreans Heat the Floor Instead of the Walls
The first thing that surprises a foreigner visiting a Korean home in winter isn't the walls — it's the floor. The moment you open the door and take off your sho
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사돈 (sadon) — The Most Delicate Word at a Korean Wedding
**사돈 (sadon)** means the relationship between the parents of two families joined by marriage — and also the word those parents use to address or refer to each o
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손없는날 (son eomneun nal) — The Day Your Moving Quote Jumps 300,000 Won Overnight
**손없는날 (son eomneun nal)** means **a day when the spirit that meddles in people's affairs is away from its post — and therefore a good day to begin something bi
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손발이 맞다 (sonbari matda) — In Sync Without a Word: How Koreans Praise Teamwork
**손발이 맞다 (sonbari matda)** means that two or more people working on something together are so well matched in their methods and rhythm that the work rolls along
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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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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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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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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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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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카공족 (kagongjok): Five Hours on One Coffee — the People Who Camp Out in Cafes
**카공족 (kagongjok)** means people who sit in a cafe for hours studying or working. During exam season, open the door of any cafe in a university neighborhood and
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Today's Korean: 미신 (misin) — the word you don't throw around in front of someone who believes
**미신 (misin)** means a belief regarded as unscientific and irrational — things like fortune-telling or a shamanic ritual — or the act of holding such a belief.
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MBTI — The Four Letters Koreans Ask For Right After Your Name
**MBTI (엠비티아이, embitiai)** is a personality test that sums up who you are in four letters of the alphabet — and it's also the word for the four-letter type the
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How to Master Nunchi — Korea's Superpower
If you watch K-dramas, there's one word you'll hear all the time.
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How to Master Nunchi — Korea's Superpower
If you watch K-dramas, there's one word you'll hear all the time.
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사주 (saju) — Your Birth Year, Month, Day, and Hour: The Story Written in Four Pillars
**사주 (saju) means the four sexagenary signs that mark the year, month, day, and hour of a person's birth — and, by extension, the destiny read from those four s
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사투리 (saturi): The Words That Feel Warmer Precisely Because They Aren't Standard
**사투리 (saturi)** means speech used only in certain regions — language that isn't the standard. If you watch enough Korean dramas, sooner or later a scene comes
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설날 (seollal) — The Day One Bowl of Tteokguk Adds a Year to Your Age
**설날 (seollal)** means the first day of the first lunar month — the biggest holiday in Korea, marking the start of a brand-new year. Because it follows the luna
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원작 (wonjak) — The Line That Always Flashes On Screen in Episode 1
**원작 (wonjak)** means the original work — a work as it stood before it was turned into the script of a play or a movie, or translated into another language. Put
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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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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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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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The Perilla Leaf Debate — Why Korean Couples Genuinely Fight at the Dinner Table
**깻잎 논쟁 (kkaennip nonjaeng)** — literally "the perilla leaf debate" — is a hypothetical argument with no set answer: at a meal you're all sharing, is it accepta
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상견례 (sanggyeonnye) — The Day Two Families First Sit Down Together
**상견례 (sanggyeonnye)** means the act of several people meeting formally for the first time and greeting one another — and above all, the occasion when the paren
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세배 (sebae) — On New Year's Morning, the Greeting That Comes Before Words
**세배 (sebae)** means the bow you make as a greeting to your elders on Seol, Lunar New Year's Day. On New Year's morning, once the 떡국 (tteokguk) bowls have been
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복불복 (bokbulbok) — The Word for Things You Can't Know Until You Open Them
**복불복 (bokbulbok)** means that you can't know in advance which side you'll land on, and the outcome rests purely on luck. You pay the same price, stand in the s
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불멍 (bulmeong) — Time You Spend in Front of a Wood Fire, Thinking About Nothing
At a campsite, once dinner is done and even the dishes are washed, people drift over one by one and settle in front of the fire. And then the talking just stops
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Deungjjak Seumaesing — The Sound of Mom's Palm Flying at You
**등짝 스매싱 (deungjjak seumaesing)** is the playful name for that single hard smack a parent — Mom, especially — lands on a child's back once the child has been ca
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갑질 (gapjil) — The Moment Status Turns Into Rudeness
**갑질 (gapjil)** means the behavior of a person in a relatively superior position acting rudely toward someone else, or bossing them around and doing whatever th
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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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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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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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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