K-pop & celebs slang

"Infinite selfishness" — from the variety show Infinite Challenge, meaning a willingness to sacrifice others for your own joy or victory.

From a 2000 MBC adult sitcom (Three Friends), where actor Yoon Da-hoon would say "jageop deureoganda" ("time to make my move") whenever he pursued a woman he liked. The word "jageop" (lit. "work/operation") caught on nationally as slang for a man actively trying to woo a woman.

Started as a mocking imitation of singer MC Mong saying, on 2 Days & 1 Night, "Wow, that's so real, I got goosebumps."

"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.

Combines "brainless" with the derogatory suffix "-chung" (bug/pest) — mocks someone for behaving badly enough to seem to have no brain at all. Historically used by critics of singer Moon Hee-jun to attack his behavior.

A suffix built from "haneunim" (God), swapping in the name of anyone you want to praise or worship — e.g. "Yu-neunim" (broadcaster Yoo Jae-suk), "Chi-neunim" (fried chicken).

It is a person who likes something so much that they might appear strange, but tries to appear like an ordinary person to those around them.

"Rare celebrity photo" — an uncommon or hard-to-find picture of a celebrity.

"Juicy face" — a fresh, bright, "bursting with juice" kind of pretty, like a face with a radiant, dewy smile. Idols like Sulli, Joy, and Nayeon are cited as classic examples.

It is a trending term that originated from Girlfriend's Umji saying to fans at the filming of the 2017 Lunar New Year Idol Star Athletics Championships, "Anyone who received two packets of ketchup! Confession of conscience!", meaning a confession about a trivial matter.

"Original broadcast" (the live airing, as opposed to a rerun), shortened.

"American TV drama," shortened.

From English "come back" — an artist or performer returning to the stage/scene after time away, especially a K-pop group's new release/promotion cycle.

Means "this feels so good" in an excited, thrilled sense. Its use is controversial because it originates from a stock line in Japanese adult videos.

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 exclamation of frustration or displeasure, from a lyric ("break") in a song by Moon Hee-jun, leader of the first-generation idol group H.O.T.

"Photo I personally took" — usually of a celebrity, shortened from "directly-shot."

Blends "celebrity" with "otaku" — an excessive, obsessive fixation on a particular celebrity.

Used to mean "fabrication/rigging." Traces to pro gamer Ma Jae-yoon, notorious for a match-fixing scandal — when viewers kept typing "jojak" (rigged) in his stream chat, he banned the word, so viewers switched to the similar-sounding "jujak," which stuck.

"Sir/ma'am, this is a curling iron" (shortened) — the classic answer you get at a salon when you bring in a celebrity photo hoping for the same hairstyle. Variants include "this is Jun Ji-hyun" or "this is Song Hye-kyo," i.e. "that look comes from the face, not the styling."

From a 2013 MBC variety show (Dad! Where Are We Going?): an 8-year-old boy said a girl who liked him made him feel "joeunga-bongga" (roughly, "I guess it's kind of nice") — the innocent, awkward phrasing became a viral catchphrase.

A Koreanized rendering of "aggravation/aggro" — deliberately provoking conflict or demanding attention. In RPGs, "aggro" is when an AI monster locks onto and chases a specific player. Online, it describes stirring up drama to get attention, phrased as "pulling aggro" ("eogeuro-reul kkeunda"); "wide-area" is sometimes added as a prefix for an especially intense version.

"Working hard" (shortened) — praise for a celebrity's looks or a brand's product performing impressively, e.g. "her beauty is working overtime" or "this Etude product is really working hard for me."

"Mukbang" — an eating broadcast, short for "eating while broadcasting." Took off after a scene of an actor eating gimbap in the film Sea Fog struck audiences. Meant to make viewers hungry watching someone else eat.

A stylized way of writing out "SBS" (Seoul Broadcasting System) phonetically. KBS gets the same treatment as "Keubeuseu." A similar-style term is "beogeum" for BGM (background music).

"Makeup is completed by the face" (shortened) — used when the same hairstyle and makeup as a celebrity just doesn't look the same on you. The missing ingredient was always their face.

In the drama *Taejo Wang Geon*, when a subject coughed, Gung Ye said, "Who is it? Who made that coughing sound?" which eventually became a popular catchphrase.

"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.

Short for "shut up and watch it live" — insisting on watching a favorite show when it first airs rather than through reruns or replays.

From "otaku," rendered in Korean as "odeoku," with an intensifying prefix once used to describe someone even more obsessed than a typical otaku (as in "5x otaku," "10x otaku"). Now mostly used, often affectionately, alongside idol fandom.

From the Harry Potter series' term for non-magical people. Used online to mean an "ordinary, unremarkable" person outside a particular fandom or niche.

"Handsome-pretty" — clearly handsome, yet also pretty. Describes a boyish woman with a short haircut, or a man with a face pretty enough to be called beautiful.

"The mood suddenly went cold," shortened.

Slang for something that looks expensive but is actually low quality for the price. Named after a convenience-store meal series fronted by singer Kim Chang-ryul, whose small portions and poor quality relative to price made "Changryul" a byword for a bad deal. Used as a noun ("Changryul") or adjective ("Changryul-hada").

It is a suffix meaning to reveal one's own tendencies or affiliations. It is derived from "coming out," which refers to a sexual minority revealing their sexual identity. It is used in phrases like "bangming-out" (revealing that one is broadcasting).

A rough, "beastly" tough guy. "Jimseung-dol" extends it to idol groups whose members have that rugged image; the opposite is "chosiknam" ("herbivore man").

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."

A derogatory term for someone obsessively devoted to something or someone — especially a celebrity — to the point of making other people uncomfortable. Male super-fans are called "ppa-dori," female ones "ppa-suni." The opposite, someone fixated on hating a target, is a "kka."

From English "even" — evenly, uniformly. Took off from judging comments on the cooking show Culinary Class Wars.

A parasocial bond: feeling personally close to a celebrity, streamer or even a chatbot who doesn't know you exist.

Fandom as an activity: collecting, following and obsessing over what you love. From deokhu (otaku).

Your favourite — the member, character or thing you love most. The runner-up is your chae.

Short for "real life" — the part of life outside games, fandom or the internet. "Time to get back to hyeonsaeng."