Photos & SNS slang

Proving something personal actually happened — e.g. posting a photo of a new purchase on social media as proof. A photo taken for this is called an "authentication shot."

A KakaoTalk (messaging app) ID.

"Their form is insane" — said in amazement when someone's performance, skill or look is on another level.

Short for "neomuna" (so very/really) — a phrasing that started on Twitter's character limit and spread across beauty content and the wider internet.

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.

Short for "attention seeker," used dismissively of someone who works too hard to be noticed.

"Individual chat/DM" on messaging apps like KakaoTalk — similar to a direct message.

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

"Attention disease" — likens the habit of posting for attention on social media to a sickness. Someone with it is an "attention-disease patient," or more commonly, "gwanjong" (attention seeker).

"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.

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

"Stomach-tempting photo," shortened — a photo of delicious-looking food.

"Mom/Dad caution," shortened — a warning attached to posts with racy photos or videos, telling readers to make sure a parent isn't watching over their shoulder.

"Adult story," in photo or written form, shortened.

Short for "read and ignore" — leaving a message on read without replying. Not even opening it is "안읽씹."

A once-in-a-lifetime good photo of yourself.

"Love" + "Instagram" — filling your feed with your relationship.

"Profile photo," shortened.

Originally described a warm, pleased feeling, but has shifted to specifically describe the feeling of looking at suggestive photos — "a meuheut photo" now basically means a racy one.

Short for "today's workout done" — posted with the proof photo.

"Subtly arousing photo," shortened — not overtly explicit, but suggestive.

A moment worth posting on Instagram.

"Permanent ban," shortened — an account permanently suspended from an online game or website for breaking the rules. Unrelated to the identical-sounding word for a memorial portrait. Also seen as "yeongban," "yeongbeul," "yeongchu" (all meaning permanent ban/block/expulsion).

"Watch your six" — a warning to make sure no one's behind you before you look at something, typically attached to posts containing racy images.

An X-shaped box that is displayed as a replacement when an image is displayed on the internet and the original image does not appear or the link is incorrect.

Pointing people to the link in your social media profile.

A photo taken from the ground looking up.

A half-body photo (as opposed to a full-body or headshot).

From the sound of heavy, moaning breath during sexual arousal — used when looking at sexually suggestive photos or videos.

It is a term referring to the best person, thing, or phenomenon in a certain field, and has a meaning similar to that of a ‘terminator.’ It originated from a photo of a KIA Tigers fan holding a sign with the letter ‘Shin’ misspelled as ‘Gap’, which someone misread as the similar-looking ‘Gap’ and left a comment.

One example is the act of uploading. A photo taken for verification is called a 'verification shot'.

"The top dog" in a given field, similar in meaning to "jonggyeoljja" (the finisher). Traces to a photo of a KIA Tigers fan holding a sign that misspelled the character for "god" (神) as a similar-looking character (申), which someone else then further misread as yet another similar character, 甲 (meaning "first/superior"), giving rise to this usage.

Slang for a disgusting or disturbing image.

"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."

Short for "self camera" — a selfie. Originally meant only a photo you took of yourself, later extended to photos someone else took of you too.

Short for "the strength to get through today" — the idol photo, cute video, or anything else that keeps you going.

Background photo.

An extreme high-angle photo, as if taken from a bird's-eye view.

An open KakaoTalk chatroom — a group chat anyone can join by link, without exchanging IDs.

"Eye terror" — your eyes have been "polluted." 1) Seeing someone or something unattractive, or an unflattering photo. 2) Seeing something dirty, disgusting, or repulsive. 3) Seeing something you wish you hadn't.

A photo or video posted mainly to attract attention and compliments on your looks.

Someone who pretends to be a different person online, usually with fake photos.

A product you've used down to the very last drop, empty bottle and all. People share photos of their empty containers ("empty-bottle shots") along with whether they'd buy it again — an empty bottle is basically a green light to legitimately buy more makeup.

A fake or secondary Instagram account shared only with close friends.

Hinting at a new relationship online without revealing who the person is — a hand in a photo, for example.

A face-filling close-up shot — a photo or video where someone's face takes up the whole frame.

A photo posted as proof that you actually did the thing.

No way, absolutely not happening.

Short for "default camera, no editing" — used to stress that a photo was taken with the phone's stock camera and not retouched.

Short for "iced tea with an added (espresso) shot" — peach iced tea with a shot of espresso, a popular Korean café drink.

"Freeze-dry" — wanting to preserve someone or something exactly as it is now, forever. Popularized by posts like "I want to freeze-dry my mom so she never ages."

Short for "save it even if you're not a fan" — a photo or clip of a celebrity so good that anyone would save it.

An operatic-sounding yawn noise that went viral from an office worker's story — used when you're sleepy or bored, and sometimes when something is so good your jaw drops.

To make someone look small just by standing next to them with a much bigger, more muscular build — "He got framemogged in the group photo."

To fake an identity or lifestyle for an audience, like a poser — "He's not a gym guy, he's just larping for Instagram."

To glam something up over the top, especially by piling beauty filters onto a photo — "Someone yassified the Mona Lisa."

A meme term for an impossibly ideal, hypermasculine man, from black-and-white photos of a chiseled model that spread around 2017. Usually humorous or satirical: "Bro returned the shopping cart in the rain, absolute gigachad."

Short for "what's good?" — a casual greeting like "what's up?" used to open a text or DM. "wsg, you coming out tonight?"