Humor slang

"Like sesame seeds" — describes something done in meticulous, tiny detail, like scattering sesame seeds — e.g. small background jokes or details easy to miss.

"As long as it's not me" — popularized on the variety show 2 Days & 1 Night, where host Kang Ho-dong jokingly said it didn't matter what happened to the other members as long as he was spared. Meant as a joke, not literal advice.

"Honey" (kkul) plus a shortened "fun" (jaem) — means "a great time, really fun."

"Burst out laughing" — literally "burst like a pop."

A speech tic derived from a stilted Japanese-to-Korean translation pattern. E.g. "This post isn't that interesting, but it's pretty helpful-neung~"

"Just stay home and study" (a pun on the country name South Africa, which shares its Korean abbreviation with this phrase) — a dismissive suggestion.

"The mood suddenly went 'ddiyong'" (a comic sound effect), shortened — a term coined by a well-known Korean streamer (BJ Bogyeom).

A variant of "haak-haak" — heavy, excited panting, used when getting worked up over something (often something cute or attractive).

"Lust demon," shortened — invoked jokingly when someone's mind goes straight to something suggestive.

"Don't take it too far. Go watch TV." — telling someone to stop before they overdo a joke or bit.

"I'll make you a superstar" — a playful, exaggerated compliment.

"Clean DC" — before the far-right forum Ilbe existed, DC Inside itself was criticized for its members' extreme behavior. Once the even-more-extreme Ilbe appeared, DC Inside's image improved by comparison, and its users started claiming the moral high ground over Ilbe and Today's Humor users with comments like "unlike those Ilbe/Oyu jerks, nothing like that happens on our clean DC" — sometimes sincerely, sometimes as a way to stir up trouble on other sites or whitewash DC's own reputation.

From a 2009 MBC sitcom (High Kick Through the Roof!): a flatulent grandfather kept farting around his young granddaughter, who — just learning to talk — started calling him "bbang-kku-ddong-kku" ("fart-butt") and later used it for anyone she disliked. The phrase went viral nationally and even made a news anchor break into laughter on air, despite a media-standards warning that it was crude. "Bbang-kku" means fart, "ddong-kku" means anus.

An abbreviation of 'photo to prevent cropping.' It refers to simple, bizarre photos created to attract attention and prevent humor posts from being buried on back pages when uploaded to a bulletin board. The term originated on DC Inside.

Shortened from "League of Legends," the Riot Games title. Someone addicted to it is sometimes called "lol-dok" or "lol-chung." English speakers use "League" instead of "LOL" for the game, to avoid confusion with "laugh out loud."

Literally "common," but used ironically to describe something that's anything but common — often applied to absurd or over-the-top examples, including odd stories from outside Korea.

Means the same as "geuk-hyeom" (utterly disgusting/hate it). Also used when something is absurd or annoying, or sometimes just said for fun with no real meaning.

The rattling sound of handcuffs — used jokingly to mean "you'll get arrested," usually aimed at someone watching illegal adult content.

Started when a DC Inside user posted a comic about people in Busan mixing completely mismatched foods together, quoting a Busan dialect line, "Just mix it and eat!" ("Ma! Sseuka mugeura!"). The comic went viral, and afterward "seuka" came to mean mixing incompatible foods, with "Seuka-guk" ("Mix Country") used as a derogatory nickname for Busan. The term spread from DC Inside to many other Korean communities.

"Anti-page-2 image," shortened — a quirky or eye-catching picture posted with a forum thread specifically to grab attention and keep the post from getting buried unnoticed. Coined on DC Inside.

Short for "Today's Humor" ("Oneuleui Yumeo"), a Korean community site.

Represents a laughing sound, read as "haha," "heuheu," or "hihi."

A further, more explicit twist on the mocking exclamation above, inserting a crude pun on "sesang-e" (in the world) as well.

A number that sounds close to "gwiyeowo" (cute) when its initial consonants are read out — playful numeral slang for "cute."

"Life's no fun if you just live it easy, bingo" — a rhyme-y way of saying an easy life is a boring one.

Blends "hogu" (a sucker/mark) with "goaengnim" (honored customer) — a sarcastic term for being flattered as a "valued customer" while actually being treated as an easy mark.

Used to mean "amazing/novel." Originated with World of Warcraft players, drawing on the nickname for the Paladin class ("sinseong-gisa," shortened wordplay to "sinbak," which also puns on "cockroach"). It spread so widely that many Koreans now think of it as standard vocabulary.

A chain of Pokémon-inspired wordplay (Pikachu → Raichu → "another Raichu") that lands on a crude word for "idiot."

A pun on "gapanjilpan" (flip-flopping) — the confusion of not being sure which personal-color "tone" suits you, when both a warm orange lip and a cool pink sweater somehow seem to work.

"Funny University," shortened — a Korean humor community site.

"Eyes welling up with moisture," shortened — used for something so funny you could cry, or a genuinely unfortunate situation. Unusually for internet slang, this one is credited to a specific celebrity (Ji Sang-ryul) rather than originating online.

From a webtoon artist's comic on a comedy site — used to mean "wow, impressive."

Used jokingly to brush off a demand for a logical explanation. Carries a misogynistic undertone, implying "when conflict arises, women irresponsibly play dumb and only act cute when it's convenient" — its use is controversial for that reason.

To burst out laughing suddenly and loudly. Similar to "burst out laughing" (ppang-teojida). Often used as "burst out laughing at ~."

"No" (English) + "jaem" (fun) — means "not fun, boring."

"The more you know, the less likable" — a pun on the name of the short-rib dish "galbi."

It is pronounced as ‘hehe’, ‘kick-kick’, ‘kyakya’, etc., to express laughter.

Short for "eojjeoradago" ("so what am I supposed to do about it") plus "TV" — a dismissive way of telling someone to go watch TV instead of bothering you.

Repeating the same joke or action past the point it's funny, until it just annoys everyone — as if your brain's circuits had stopped working.

A stupid taste. It was first used in the Serial Cartoon Gallery on DC Inside and means 'absurd'.

A wild, over-the-top joke or bit — coined on DC Inside's comedy gallery, combining "ad-lib" with the derogatory prefix "gae-" (dog/very). Used dismissively when someone says something outlandish or insincere purely to get attention.

It is a sarcastic term used to mock the older generation for saying "Back in my day" to the younger generation. Also known as "Latte-drip," it is used to criticize or satirize the speech and behavior of the older generation from the past. It is also used in English as "Latte is horse."

Weakening. It originated in *Ultima Online* when the stats of a certain sword were downgraded, prompting users to say, "Is this a Nerf sword?" Nerf is an actual toy brand. After this word was coined, the word "buff" was later derived and established itself with the meaning of "improving stats."

It is spending small amounts of money within a range that does not interfere with daily life.

The term originated when the wife of South Korean internet broadcaster Woowakgood misread "LEGEND" written in the Minecraft font as "LEGENO," and it has the same meaning as "Legend."

He is a person who loves his daughter dearly, like a fool who knows nothing but his daughter.

On the surface, it is funny, but the actual situation is sad.

An abbreviation for 'Romance Fantasy,' a genre of novels or comics.

It is the initial consonant of 'Real lol', similar to 'ㅇㅈ' but carries more of the meaning of laughter.

Bursting out laughing — the laugh you couldn't hold in.

A playful respelling of gamseong (sensibility) — an aesthetic, moody vibe, sometimes said with a wink at how try-hard that vibe is.

"God" + "masterpiece," with myeong respelled as tting because the letters look alike — an all-time great work.

Initials of "real" — seriously, no joke.

Short for "funny but not funny" — a joke with something bleak underneath.

Short for "real-life laugh" — you actually laughed out loud, not just typed ㅋㅋ.

From "meme" — a joke format, image or line that spreads and mutates online.

A joke word for the stage just before dating: closer than a crush, not official yet. "Sa-" (four) in "dating" dropped to "sam-" (three).

A deliberately garbled spelling of "run away." Used jokingly to tell someone to bail out — the crypto crowd's opposite of gazua (let's go).

"A man who tore his way out of a comic" — someone unrealistically good-looking, as if drawn. Female version: manjjinnyeo.

"Nuclear" + "no fun" — extremely boring, not funny at all.

Calling someone out and turning out to be guilty of the same thing yourself. From a comedy sketch where the person mocking an African name was himself named Tallulah.

"Chewing doctor" — someone who knows every good restaurant and what to order, an expert in eating.