Cool Hnagul Acronyms Or Slang I use
I often use these with my Korean friends in Korea
SKY
An acronym for the three most prestigious universities in South Korea: Seoul University, Korea University, and Yonsei University. If you graduate from one of these universities, it's said you are set for life, so you can understand the great pressure for students to try and get into them.
“ㅇ” or “ㅇㅇ”
This is an abbreviated form of “응,”which means “yes.”
“ㄴ” or “ㄴㄴ”
Means “no.” This is completely derived from the English “no.”
“ㅇㅋ”
This is also from the English, and means “okay.” Usage of this in Korea is the same as “okay” is used in English.
“OTL or OTZ” (Japan has this too)
This represents a picture of a man kneeling down. Used to express disappointment or defeat.
“ㄷㅊ” From “닥쳐”
It means “shut up!” Although these are convenient ways to communicate, especially when typing, it is still important to observe basic etiquette. Sometimes, there will be situations where merely answering yes with a “ㅇ” may be impolite, and people may be offended by this.
ㅇㄱㄹㅇ
Is short for “이거레알”, which in English means “this is real.” This slang is similar to English slangs such as “so true,” “true dat,” and is used when the user agrees and relates to the subject. Why is the word “real” pronounced as “레알” (ray-ahl) here? This seem to stem from the Spanish pronunciation of “real”, widely-known in Korea due to the famous club football/soccer team Real Madrid CF.
ㅂㅂㅂㄱ
Is short for “반박불가,”which in English means “unable to be refuted.”
사이다
This is a slang that is heavily used in Korea nowadays. What does it mean? It is used to describe situations that are refreshing or relieving .
This slang probably needs an example to be explained better:
B: 존이 3년간 좋아하는 애한테 드디어 고백했대! (John finally asked out that girl he liked for 3 years!)
C: 와 사이다! (Whoa, finally!) –> It is used to show how “refreshed” person C feels.
고답이
This is made from the word “고구마,” which means sweet potato and “답답이” which is used to describe someone that is frustrating. Ever eaten a sweet potato, and have felt your throat feels dry and constricted? Essentially, 고답이 is used to described someone who is really frustrating, and can be said to be the opposite slang term for “사이다.”
핵노잼
“핵” is used informally as a form of exaggeration, but has a formal definition of “nucleus” or “nuclear.” “노잼” is a hybrid of the English word “no” (노) and the Korean shortened version of “재미” (잼), which translates to “not amusing” or “boring.” The slang overall means to be “extremely not fun” or “extremely boring.”
극딜
This originate from gaming slangs, and means to focus on attack while giving up on defense.
솔까말
Is a shortened word for “솔직히 까놓고 말해서” which means to be honest. Similar to the English slang “tbh.”
취존
Is short for “취향,” which can be translated to “preference,” “liking,” “taste” and “존중” which means to respect. The slang means to respect someone’s taste or preference for something (no matter how weird it may be).
쩐다/쩔어/쩌네… and many other variants
used as a hyperbolic reaction to something, which usually conveys amazement, astonishment, admiration and such.
찌질이 (My friends and I always calls eache other, it's fine with someone who is close to you byt not your boss or co-workers)
This is a derogatory term, and should not be used. The closest English translation is “loser.”
여사친
Shortened hybrid word of “여자” meaning female, “사람” person, 친구 “friend.” Used to describe a girl who is just a friend, opposed to “여친” which means “girlfriend.” Use “남자” for a guy who is just a friend “남사친” or boyfriend “남친.”
대박 [Dae-bak]
Most often used to express the idea of gaining a big fortune. An English equivalent may be “jack-pot” because this phrase is sometimes used in association with gambling. When someone opens a business, people will wish them “Dae-bak” by saying “대박나세요!” [dae bak na se yo!] It can be used to express both positive and negative emotional extreme.
훈남/훈녀[Hum nam/Hum neo]
This term refers to a person who is charming and gives off a soft/gentle aurora. Usually, they look responsible. This term originates from the phrase, 훈훈하다 [hun hun ha da], which means heart-warming.
엄친아 [Um-chin-ah]/ 엄친딸 [Um-chin-dtal]
This is an abbreviated term from the phrase “엄마친구의 아들/딸” which means my mom’s friend’s son. Um from Mom [Um-ma], Chin from Friend [Chin-gu] and ah from son [Ah-deul] or dtal from the word daughter. It’s used to call guys/girls who are good at everything.
행쇼 [Haeng-syo]
This phrase, popularized by Korea’s music/fashion/trend icon G-dragon, is a shorten word for 행복하십쇼 [haeng bok ha sip syo] which means “Be happy” in honorifics. It’s used to say goodbye
갑이다/을이다 [gab i da/ eur i da]
Gab/Eur are words used to express the power dynamic between two people or groups. Gab represents the person with more power, and eur is the subjugated. It originally comes from the legal terminology, but is now used to talk about any relationships such as boss/subordinate, women/men, adult/child etc. This usage was popularized by a segment of a comedy show called Gag Concert called, “Gab/Eur company” where the comedians used satire on Korea’s corporate culture.
알바 [Alba]
Alba is a shorten phrase for 아르바이트 [a reu ba i teu], which means part time job. It comes from the German word Arbeit which means to labour.
멘붕 [men bung]
It’s a shorten form of 멘탈붕괴 [men tal bung goe], which is a combination of the English word “mental” and the word 붕괴,which means to deconstruct. Mental here refers to the mental state of the person, and hence, Men Bung means to experience mental shock aka. OTL. It was first used amongst the Korean Starcraft players in 2011.
뭥미? [Mwong mi?] Means “What the..”? It originates from the word 뭐임[mwo im], which means “What is it?” When you type 뭐임 quickly using the Korean keyboard, you often end up with 뭥미, which is how this word came about.
SKY
An acronym for the three most prestigious universities in South Korea: Seoul University, Korea University, and Yonsei University. If you graduate from one of these universities, it's said you are set for life, so you can understand the great pressure for students to try and get into them.
“ㅇ” or “ㅇㅇ”
This is an abbreviated form of “응,”which means “yes.”
“ㄴ” or “ㄴㄴ”
Means “no.” This is completely derived from the English “no.”
“ㅇㅋ”
This is also from the English, and means “okay.” Usage of this in Korea is the same as “okay” is used in English.
“OTL or OTZ” (Japan has this too)
This represents a picture of a man kneeling down. Used to express disappointment or defeat.
“ㄷㅊ” From “닥쳐”
It means “shut up!” Although these are convenient ways to communicate, especially when typing, it is still important to observe basic etiquette. Sometimes, there will be situations where merely answering yes with a “ㅇ” may be impolite, and people may be offended by this.
ㅇㄱㄹㅇ
Is short for “이거레알”, which in English means “this is real.” This slang is similar to English slangs such as “so true,” “true dat,” and is used when the user agrees and relates to the subject. Why is the word “real” pronounced as “레알” (ray-ahl) here? This seem to stem from the Spanish pronunciation of “real”, widely-known in Korea due to the famous club football/soccer team Real Madrid CF.
ㅂㅂㅂㄱ
Is short for “반박불가,”which in English means “unable to be refuted.”
사이다
This is a slang that is heavily used in Korea nowadays. What does it mean? It is used to describe situations that are refreshing or relieving .
This slang probably needs an example to be explained better:
B: 존이 3년간 좋아하는 애한테 드디어 고백했대! (John finally asked out that girl he liked for 3 years!)
C: 와 사이다! (Whoa, finally!) –> It is used to show how “refreshed” person C feels.
고답이
This is made from the word “고구마,” which means sweet potato and “답답이” which is used to describe someone that is frustrating. Ever eaten a sweet potato, and have felt your throat feels dry and constricted? Essentially, 고답이 is used to described someone who is really frustrating, and can be said to be the opposite slang term for “사이다.”
핵노잼
“핵” is used informally as a form of exaggeration, but has a formal definition of “nucleus” or “nuclear.” “노잼” is a hybrid of the English word “no” (노) and the Korean shortened version of “재미” (잼), which translates to “not amusing” or “boring.” The slang overall means to be “extremely not fun” or “extremely boring.”
극딜
This originate from gaming slangs, and means to focus on attack while giving up on defense.
솔까말
Is a shortened word for “솔직히 까놓고 말해서” which means to be honest. Similar to the English slang “tbh.”
취존
Is short for “취향,” which can be translated to “preference,” “liking,” “taste” and “존중” which means to respect. The slang means to respect someone’s taste or preference for something (no matter how weird it may be).
쩐다/쩔어/쩌네… and many other variants
used as a hyperbolic reaction to something, which usually conveys amazement, astonishment, admiration and such.
찌질이 (My friends and I always calls eache other, it's fine with someone who is close to you byt not your boss or co-workers)
This is a derogatory term, and should not be used. The closest English translation is “loser.”
여사친
Shortened hybrid word of “여자” meaning female, “사람” person, 친구 “friend.” Used to describe a girl who is just a friend, opposed to “여친” which means “girlfriend.” Use “남자” for a guy who is just a friend “남사친” or boyfriend “남친.”
대박 [Dae-bak]
Most often used to express the idea of gaining a big fortune. An English equivalent may be “jack-pot” because this phrase is sometimes used in association with gambling. When someone opens a business, people will wish them “Dae-bak” by saying “대박나세요!” [dae bak na se yo!] It can be used to express both positive and negative emotional extreme.
훈남/훈녀[Hum nam/Hum neo]
This term refers to a person who is charming and gives off a soft/gentle aurora. Usually, they look responsible. This term originates from the phrase, 훈훈하다 [hun hun ha da], which means heart-warming.
엄친아 [Um-chin-ah]/ 엄친딸 [Um-chin-dtal]
This is an abbreviated term from the phrase “엄마친구의 아들/딸” which means my mom’s friend’s son. Um from Mom [Um-ma], Chin from Friend [Chin-gu] and ah from son [Ah-deul] or dtal from the word daughter. It’s used to call guys/girls who are good at everything.
행쇼 [Haeng-syo]
This phrase, popularized by Korea’s music/fashion/trend icon G-dragon, is a shorten word for 행복하십쇼 [haeng bok ha sip syo] which means “Be happy” in honorifics. It’s used to say goodbye
갑이다/을이다 [gab i da/ eur i da]
Gab/Eur are words used to express the power dynamic between two people or groups. Gab represents the person with more power, and eur is the subjugated. It originally comes from the legal terminology, but is now used to talk about any relationships such as boss/subordinate, women/men, adult/child etc. This usage was popularized by a segment of a comedy show called Gag Concert called, “Gab/Eur company” where the comedians used satire on Korea’s corporate culture.
알바 [Alba]
Alba is a shorten phrase for 아르바이트 [a reu ba i teu], which means part time job. It comes from the German word Arbeit which means to labour.
멘붕 [men bung]
It’s a shorten form of 멘탈붕괴 [men tal bung goe], which is a combination of the English word “mental” and the word 붕괴,which means to deconstruct. Mental here refers to the mental state of the person, and hence, Men Bung means to experience mental shock aka. OTL. It was first used amongst the Korean Starcraft players in 2011.
뭥미? [Mwong mi?] Means “What the..”? It originates from the word 뭐임[mwo im], which means “What is it?” When you type 뭐임 quickly using the Korean keyboard, you often end up with 뭥미, which is how this word came about.
22-25, M