· Slangdunk Editors
What does 샤라웃 (syaraut) mean? How “shout out” became Korean slang, from hip-hop to office chat
샤라웃 is the English “shout out” written in Korean. It means publicly naming someone to thank or praise them.
At a glance
- Meaning
- Publicly calling out someone's name to thank or praise them, as in “샤라웃 to ~.”
- Origin
- English “shout out” (originally “to yell”). It spread through US hip-hop, where rappers named people they respected in their lyrics.
- Spread
- From music and TV, it has moved into workplace messengers as a way to credit colleagues.
- Careful
- Don't mix it up with “shut up” (셧업), which sounds similar in Korean and means the opposite.
Last week, when a project one of our editors led wrapped up smoothly, the team lead posted a line in the company messenger: “This project — 샤라웃 to our editor!” A row of clapping emoji followed. The editor was in a good mood all day. That's the power of a 샤라웃.
On Google, 샤라웃 is searched alongside “meaning” and “in English” — funny for a word that came from English in the first place. Here's how it traveled from hip-hop lyrics to the office chat.
What does 샤라웃 mean?
샤라웃
Publicly naming someone you're grateful to or admire, to thank or cheer them. From English “shout out.”
In Korean: 고마운 사람이나 존경하는 사람의 이름을 공개적으로 불러 감사나 응원을 전하는 것.
Seoul Economic Daily's slang column defined 샤라웃 as a word for thanking someone, or mentioning and introducing someone you respect — much like “thanks to.” The key is that it's public: not gratitude between two people, but naming someone where everyone can see.
How do you use 샤라웃? 5 example sentences
- 이번 워크숍 준비해 준 경영지원팀에 샤라웃!Shout out to the operations team for putting this workshop together!Company messenger
- 제 첫 앨범을 도와준 친구들에게 샤라웃 보냅니다Sending a shout out to the friends who helped with my first album.A musician's social post
- 우리 동네 빵집 사장님께 샤라웃. 오늘도 소금빵 최고Shout out to my neighborhood bakery. Salt bread on point again today.A regular's review
- 좋아하는 가수한테 샤라웃 받으면 진짜 기절할 듯If my favorite singer shouted me out I'd literally pass out.Fan group chat
- 샤라웃? 셧업이랑 같은 거 아니야?샤라웃? Isn't that the same as “shut up”?Parents (it's the opposite)
Where does 샤라웃 come from? A greeting born in hip-hop lyrics
“Shout out” originally meant “to yell.” It came to mean “to publicly mention someone” thanks to US hip-hop, where rappers named respected artists and people who'd helped them, in lyrics and on stage. Seoul Economic Daily notes that a famous rapper mentioning a talented newcomer often boosted the newcomer's profile. As the same thing happened more in Korea, the term settled in untranslated, as 샤라웃.
Why did 샤라웃 catch on? Three reasons
One: it's livelier than “thank you.” The same gratitude sounds like a celebration when you say “샤라웃!” It's an easy way to hand over a slightly awkward compliment.
Two: being public is the gift. Being named means being recognized. One shout out can change someone's day, sometimes their career. The rule began in hip-hop and got stronger with social media.
Three: work changed. Saladent Report points out that as remote work spread, a culture of publicly crediting colleagues in messengers and collaboration tools grew — and 샤라웃 became its word.
Where you've heard it: stages, TV and the office chat
샤라웃 is still a music-world word. SBS's youth channel interviewed a Vietnamese rapper billed as having been “shouted out(?)” by Korean rapper Changmo, and Chungju city's YouTube channel posted a whole video of the moment its publicist got a shout out from singer Heize. It has also moved into offices: Saladent Report describes shout-outs like “샤라웃 to team X” in tools like Slack becoming a form of positive feedback.
샤라웃 (syaraut): frequently asked questions
Q. What does 샤라웃 mean?
Publicly naming someone to thank, praise or support them. It's the English “shout out” written as it sounds in Korean.
Q. How is 샤라웃 written in English?
“Shout out,” followed by “to”: “Shout out to my team!” As a noun it's “a shout-out.”
Q. Is 샤라웃 the same as 셧업 (shut up)?
No. “Shut up” means “be quiet” — the two only sound alike in Korean and mean opposite things.
Q. Where does 샤라웃 come from?
From US hip-hop culture, where rappers named people they respected or who had helped them, in lyrics and on stage.
Q. Can I use 샤라웃 at work?
Yes — it's great for publicly praising a colleague in a messenger or collaboration tool. For formal documents, a plain “thank you” is better.
So 샤라웃 is the habit of saying thanks in front of everyone. If someone comes to mind today, call them out. And to you, for reading this far: 샤라웃. Its hip-hop cousin 플렉스 is worth a look too, and the 샤라웃 entry has more definitions.
Sources
See ‘샤라웃’ in the dictionary — more definitions, examples, and your own take.
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