We all went through this phase of not understanding a single word from a conversation between Kpop/Kdrama fans because they used words that didn’t make sense. Don’t worry, it’s not a reason to consider yourself as ignorant, dumb or as “not a real fan” if you have just plunged into this world.
Here you will find a list of words related to the Kpop/Kdrama language so you don’t have to feel uncomfortable when some other fan asks you about who’s your bias or when you just want to try understanding the hype around Kpop and Kdramas. The list is of course not exhaustive, I might think of new words to add and you might suggest some in the comments as well ๐
A like…
Aegyo (์ ๊ต)
Adopting a cute behaviour (through gestures, face expressions and voice) in order to appear as charming in front of others. Typical cute gestures are finger hearts and poking your cheeks. There are even songs that were created for this sole purpose. However, some idols are forced to do Aegyo when they appear on variety shows to please the fans. Key from Shinee doesn’t like Aegyo but was forced to do it when Shinee appeared on Weekly Idol.
Aigoo (์์ด๊ณ )
Equivalent of “geez”, but can also be interpreted as “oh how cute” (when seeing a newly born baby for example).
Ahjumma/Ahjussi (์์ค๋ง/์์ ์จ)
Word used to designate a middle-aged married woman/man. This word is often used in Kdramas.
Award Shows
At the end of the year, mostly towards December, award shows take place in Korea (and sometimes in other countries like Japan, Hong Kong, and Thailand) to reward Kpop groups and artists with prizes. Among the most popular shows are MAMA (Mnet asian music awards), MMA (melon music awards), AAA (asian artist awards), TMA (the fact music awards), the Golden Disc awards, and SBS Gayo Daejeon.
B like…
Band
There’s a difference to make between a Kpop group and a Kpop band. A group performs on stage with sharp choreographies, while a band plays their own instrument on stage, leaving the choreography on the side.
Bias
Your bias is basically your favourite member of a certain group. Ex: My bias (favourite member) in SHINee is Taemin. It can of course change within time.
Bias Wrecker
The bias wrecker is basically another member of a group who’s in a constant “battle” against your bias from the same group. Ex: My bias wrecker in SHINee is Key, meaning that Key is a close second to Taemin. Just like the bias, the bias wrecker can change over time.
Big 3
The big 3 are the 3 biggest entertainment agencies on the market: JYP Entertainment (also referred as JYPE, founded by Park Jin Young), SM entertainment (also referred as SME, founded by Lee Soo Man), and YG entertainment (also referred as YGE, founded by Yang Hyun-Suk). However, with the incredible rise of Hybe Labels (previously known as Big Hit entertainment founded by Bang Si-Hyuk and home to artists such as BTS), we can talk about the big 4 instead of the big 3.
B-side
In a Kpop album, you have two types of tracks: the title track(s) (usually there’s only one title track but sometimes there can be two or even three title tracks), and the b-side tracks, the rest of the songs that are on the album. They don’t get promoted as much as title tracks on TV shows and musical shows, and they don’t always get an MV.
C like…
Chingu (์น๊ตฌ)
Means “friend”. If you add before it “yeoja” or “namja”, it gives “yeoja chingu” (์ฌ์ ์น๊ตฌ) which means “girlfriend” or “namja chingu” (๋จ์ ์น๊ตฌ) which means “boyfriend”.
Comeback
When a group or an artist releases a new song, mini-album, or full album after a certain period of inactivity. The average time between one comeback and another is between 4 and 6 months. Groups who do comebacks in more than 6 months are considered less active than others.
D like…
Daebak (๋๋ฐ)
Equivalent of a positive “oh my god” or “wow/amazing”. For example, we’d say “Daebak” to someone who has been accepted at Harvard, or to someone who just announced her pregnancy.
Daesang (๋์)
Grand prize rewarded to Kpop artists who sold the highest amount of digital and physical albums during end-of-year award shows.
Debut
When a group or a solo artist releases their first song or album ever.
Disband/Disbanding/Disbandment
When a group officially quits the industry, meaning the members of the group won’t promote under their group name and have terminated their contracts. A group disbands for three reasons: one, the members just don’t want to renew their contracts with their agency and want to do their own thing, second, the group is not doing well in the industry, third, there are some disagreements between the group and the agency leading to contract termination.
Drama
You’ll hear the word “Drama” a lot, and it’s just the equivalent of “series” in South Korea. It does not refer to the “drama” genre, because you can have romantic dramas, historical dramas, thriller dramas, etc.
Dongsaeng (๋์)
Can mean either little brother or little sister.
E like…
Eonnie (์ธ๋)
A woman calls another woman who’s older “Eonnie”. They can be sisters by blood or just friends.
F like…
Fanbase
A group of fans of a certain group/artist who create content about a certain group/artist to …
Fandom
The fan community of a certain group/artist. Fandoms have specific names according to the group/artist they follow. The Seventeen fandom is called “Carats”, the Stray Kids fandom is called “Stays” and the SHINee fandom is called “Shawols”.
Fanchants
Chants that are made for fans to cheer their favourite idols. They are tailored for specific songs, and sometimes groups would make fan chant guides right after the release of their new song so their fans could cheer them up during music shows, award shows and concerts.
Finger Heart
A gesture proper to the Kpop culture where you make the shape of a heart with your index and your thumb (psst…there’s one right at the top of the blog page!)
G like…
Greeting
Every group who debuts has a sentence and sign they use when presenting themselves to the public during variety shows, interviews, etc. Some groups just casually say “Hello we are (name of group)”, but most groups have a greeting that is proper to them. Example: “One dream, hello we are TXT”, “Say the name Seventeen! Hello we are Seventeen”, “Bang-Tan! Hello we are BTS!”, “Connect! Hello we are Enhypen”.
H like…
Hallyu (ํ๋ฅ)
That’s how we call the “Korean wave” that is the spread of the Korean culture all around the world. It contains the word โhanโ meaning Korea and โryuโ meaning wave in Chinese characters.
Hubae (ํ๋ฐฐ)
Means Junior in the professional and academic field.
Hyung (ํ)
A man calls another man who’s older than him “Hyung”. They can be brothers or just friends.
Hwaiting/Fighting (ํ์ดํ /ํ์ดํ )
This is a word of encouragement, just like “break a leg”.
I like…
Idol
Kpop stars are called “Idols” because they are worshiped by a whole generation of people who love them so much and consider them as role models. The other side of the coin is that because they are role models, they force themselves to be perfect which leads them to be unhappy and live an unhealthy life.
L like…
Lightstick
A stick that lights up during concerts and performances. What’s special about it is that every group has their own stick designed to suit their universe (example: army bomb is the lightstick of BTS, making reference to their fandom). During concerts, they can be of different colours and can be synced together via bluetooth.ย
M like…
Maknae (๋ง๋ด)
Refers to the youngest member of a group.
Multi-fandom (or multi)
When someone is a fan of multiple groups and artists at the same time.
Music Show
After making a debut or a comeback, groups and artists promote their songs on music shows that are broadcasted on Korean TV. Some of the most popular ones are MCountdown, Inkigayo and Music Bank. At the end of the show, fans will vote for their favourite group and performance, and the winner gets a trophy. The first music show win is a memorable milestone in the life of a Kpop group.ย
N like…
Noona (๋๋)
A man calls a woman who’s older than him “Noona”. They can be siblings or just friends.
O like…
Oppa (์ค๋น )
A woman calls a man who’s older than her “Oppa”. They can be siblings or just friends.
OST
Translates to Original Soundtrack of movies or dramas. A lot of Idols and Groups of idols record soundtracks to help the promotion of movies and dramas. For example, the OST “Stay With Me” of the famous Kdrama “Goblin” was sang by EXO’s Chanyeol and Punch. The OST “Start Over” of the 2020 Kdrama “Itaewon Class” was sung by Gaho. One of my personal favourite OST is “Heal You” from the Kdrama “Navillera” sang by Ha Hyunsang, a soloist and member of the Korean Band “Hoppipolla” formed through.
R like…
Rookie
Refers to the title of a newly born Kpop group or Idol, the “newbies”. There is not a limit of time after which we stop calling a group/artist a rookie, but we usually stop considering them as “newbies” after they have spend 2 or 3 years in the industry.
S like…
Sasaeng (์ฌ์ํฌ)
Toxic and obsessed fan who’s ready to do everything in order to touch their favourite idol, get an object from them or just see them. They track idols down and follow them everywhere they go, to the point of invading their private lives. Idols suffer from these behaviours and are sometimes end up being injured.
Sub-unit
A sub-group within a group. Example: NCT 127 is a sub-unit within the group NCT.ย
Sunbae (์ ๋ฐฐ)
Means Senior in the workplace and in the academic environment. In general, the culture of respecting your elders is deeply anchored in the Korean culture. Whether a person is your senior in high school, your senior in the company you’re working, or a senior (elderly person) in life, you have to pay respect to them.
T like…
Trainee
Before debuting, Kpop starts go through a “training” period that can vary from one person to another (for the same group, one person could’ve trained for 1 year, and another person could’ve trained for 5 years). During this period, they are trained to sing, dance, rap and compose. The training period is known to be very harsh: trainees have to pass regular evaluations, and can be dismissed if they don’t show any progress.
U like…
Ultimate Bias
The King or Queen of your bias list. You might have multiple biases across all Kpop groups, but you shall have only one Ultimate Bias.
V like…
Variety Shows
Popular shows in Korea like “Weekly Idol”, “Running man”, “Idol Room” and many others, where idols appear to play games and do all sorts of activities to promote their latest release but also to provide extra content for their fans to feel closer to them. Some groups have their own Variety/Reality shows like Seventeen with “Going Seventeen”, BTS with “Run BTS”, and TXT with “TalkXToday”.ย
V live
A social media platform regularly used by Kpop idols to communicate with their fans. They stream on it, give “juicy” information, sing live, or just chat with their fans.ย
Sources: Linguasia
Kpop and Co. 