Words & Phrases

Words and phrases in Korean that, while part of the culture, tend to be obscured by the urge to save face.

• Ajima – Woman
• Bap – Cooked rice
• Bap-Bolli – ‘Bread winner’ or ‘money earner’
• Chilso – Discipline
• Dari – Leg
• Goedam – Horror story
• Gwiyopda – To be cute
• Haejok - Pirate
• Haeng mugi – Nuclear weapons
• Hwa – suffix, added to a word in effect an ize. eg. Hyundaehwa is to modernize.
• Hyundae – Modern
• Iljinhoe – School gangs organized around the theme of bullying other students. Iljinhoe can be found even in elementary schools and encourage theft and violence. Sadly a logical backlash from the draconian education system and its rules. An excellent article on Iljinhoe can be found here.
• Ji-dong – Earthquake
• Jima – Skirt
• Kanchop – Spy
• Kundaenggi – Buttocks
• Min-nyo – Babe
• Noraebang – Singing Room
• Paji – Pants
• Taechong – Symmetry
• Uju – The universe, space, everything.
• Umak – Music
• Waygook – foreigner
• Wonjo kyojae – is when a middle age man gives spending money to an underage woman for sex, something practiced in Japan for some considerable time and gaining ground in Korea. ‘Wonjo’ means financial assistance or support, and ‘kyojae’ is to date or have a relationship.
• Yonmal/Yonsi – Year End/Beginning