· Slangdunk Editors
What does 쫌쫌따리 (jjomjjomttari) mean? Saving bit by bit, starting from a chicken foot
쫌쫌따리 (jjomjjomttari) is Korean slang for scraping together tiny amounts, little by little. It reportedly began in an online argument over boneless versus bone-in chicken feet, and now applies to app points and stock gains.
At a glance
- Meaning
- Scraping together tiny, almost trivial amounts, bit by bit. Some call it the modern version of “every little bit adds up.”
- Origin
- Hongseong Shinmun and Seoul Economic Daily say it came from a forum post describing the scraps of meat on bone-in chicken feet. The author and date are unconfirmed.
- Usage
- “쫌쫌따리 모았다” (saved up bit by bit), “쫌쫌따리 수익” (tiny gains): money, points, study time, workouts.
- In English
- No set translation. “Little by little” or “bit by bit” comes close.
Sunday evening. A mom watches her daughter on the sofa, tapping away at her phone: a step-counter app, a daily check-in, an ad for points. When Mom asks what she's doing, the daughter answers without looking up. The characters are invented, but every fact in their conversation has a source.
What does 쫌쫌따리 (jjomjjomttari) mean? A daughter explains
- Mom (54)What have you been tapping at all this time?
- Seoyeon (22)Collecting points. Doing a bit of 쫌쫌따리.
- Mom (54)쫌쫌따리? What's that, dialect?
- Seoyeon (22)Not dialect, slang. Gathering tiny bits, little by little. Hongseong Shinmun called it the modern way of saying “every little bit adds up.”
- Mom (54)So my coin jar is 쫌쫌따리 too?
- Seoyeon (22)Textbook 쫌쫌따리. But it didn't start with money. It started with chicken feet.
- Mom (54)Chicken feet?
- Seoyeon (22)Yeah. People on a forum were arguing whether bone-in or boneless chicken feet taste better, and someone on team bone-in used it to describe the little bits of meat on the bones. Hongseong Shinmun and Seoul Economic Daily both tell it that way.
- Mom (54)Who wrote it, and when?
- Seoyeon (22)No idea. Neither the author nor the date is confirmed. The articles just say “a forum.”
- Mom (54)So how did chicken-feet meat turn into app points?
- Seoyeon (22)Seoul Economic Daily said in 2021 the word reflects a mood of getting small satisfactions from a little effort instead of going all out. They even had an example about making 쫌쫌따리 gains on stocks.
- Mom (54)So how much have you saved today?
- Seoyeon (22)127 won. About one bite of chicken foot.
쫌쫌따리
Scraping together tiny, almost trivial amounts, bit by bit. Used for money, points, study, exercise — anything that adds up in small pieces.
In Korean: 아주 적고 하찮은 양을 조금씩, 틈틈이 애써 모으는 모양.
- 앱테크로 쫌쫌따리 모은 포인트로 커피 한 잔 샀다Bought a coffee with points I'd 쫌쫌따리'd together from apps.At a café on the way to work
- 주식은 쫌쫌따리 수익이 최고야. 욕심내면 안 돼With stocks, 쫌쫌따리 gains are best. Don't get greedy.Investing group chat
- 점심시간마다 쫌쫌따리 공부해서 결국 자격증 땄어요I studied 쫌쫌따리 every lunch break and finally got certified.To a coworker
- 뼈닭발은 쫌쫌따리 뜯어 먹는 맛이지The whole point of bone-in chicken feet is picking at them 쫌쫌따리.Choosing a late-night snack
Why is 쫌쫌따리 everywhere?
It sounds cute, and what it describes is small. Doubling 쫌 (a little) and tacking on 따리 makes it roll off the tongue, and the habits it names — a few won in points, ten minutes a day — are within anyone's reach. As Seoul Economic Daily noted, it fits a mood of stacking small satisfactions rather than chasing big wins. If 소확행 (small but certain happiness) is about enjoying little joys, 쫌쫌따리 is how you collect them. It's a neighbor of 존버 (hanging in there), too.
쫌쫌따리 (jjomjjomttari): frequently asked questions
Q. What does 쫌쫌따리 mean?
It means scraping together tiny, almost trivial amounts, little by little. Some call it the modern version of “every little bit adds up.”
Q. Where does 쫌쫌따리 come from?
Hongseong Shinmun and Seoul Economic Daily say a fan of bone-in chicken feet coined it in a forum argument to describe the scraps of meat on the bones. The author, date and forum are unconfirmed.
Q. Is 쫌쫌따리 a dialect word?
We found no evidence that it is. Both news reports describe it as internet slang from a forum. 쫌 is a casual form of 조금 (a little), which may make it sound regional.
Q. What's 쫌쫌따리 in English?
There's no set translation. “Little by little” or “bit by bit” is closest.
Q. When did people start saying 쫌쫌따리?
The exact date is unconfirmed. By the time Hongseong Shinmun (February 2021) and Seoul Economic Daily (May 2021) covered it, it was already widely used.
So: 쫌쫌따리 went from the gaps between chicken-foot bones to bank accounts and app points. Each piece is trivial, but together they make a bite. Seoyeon turned 127 won into 133 before bed that night. If you have a sharper definition, add it to the 쫌쫌따리 entry in the dictionary.
Sources
See ‘쫌쫌따리’ in the dictionary — more definitions, examples, and your own take.
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