K-Pop – Phrase Book (Lingo Terms and Slang)

This is a phrase book pertaining mainly about K-Pop phrases, lingo terms, and slang. 

Warning: Slight mature content!

A – C

Note: Credit goes to Kawaii Thrombocytes

• 4D – An Idol that acts strange or eccentric do to living in his/her own world (dimension).
• Aegyo – A Korean term that’s made from the Chinese word meaning “Love” and “Beautiful”. For some reason, this adjective is used to describe the kawaii-est of all member of a group.
• Age Line – Referring to people that have the same birth year.
• Aigoo – A phrase denoting frustration.
• Ahjumma – A term for older, married women or grandmothers.
• Ahjusshi – A polite term for men that are older than you. It’s similar to the words “Uncle” and “Sir.”
• All Kill – It’s when the artist/band is number one in all of the main Korean music charts.
• Andwae – “No way.”
• Anti – Aka “Anti-Fan”, is someone that hates a certain Idol/band. Some take their hate to the extreme, like making fake rumors to outright sabotaging an Idol/band. A few of these haters view the Idol/Band of their hate as diminishing their favorite Idol/band’s achievements and accomplishments. The term is also used by toxic fans to describe those that are critical and/or fellow fans that are using tough love of their Idols/bands.
• Annyeong – A word usually meaning “Hello” and occasionally “Good bye.” (Aka “Annyeonghaseyo“)
• Antenna Fan – A fan that only has one favorite Idol artist/group.
• Average Fan – This type of fan buys an album/KPop merch only when money is sensibly available.
• Babo – Korean for “Idiot.”
• Bagel Girl – A girl that is describe to have a baby face, but a contradictory mature body figure.
• Beagle Line – This phrase refers to a member(s) of a KPop band that are the most playful and/or loud.
• Bias – This word refers to a fan’s favorite member of a band.
• Bias Ruiner – A new artist or Idol that makes a fan question their devotion.
• Bias Wrecker – This word refers to another Idol, mainly a band member, that’s also a fan’s favorite. They mainly “overthrown” the previous favorite.
• (The) Big Three – Referring to: SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment. These are the big companies that have the biggest influence (history-wise) and launched the most successful KPop artists/bands.
• Black Ocean – When fans turn off their light sticks during a midst of a performance to shun a group/idol.
• Body Roll(s) – It’s an arousing dance move.
• Broke Fan – This is a KPop fan that’s broke/poor and cannot buy much KPop albums and merch.
• Bromance – A close friendship between two Idols, it kinda appears as romantic.
• Bulk Buyer(s) – A fan that buys a zillion copies of one album.
• Byungtae – A pervert/perverted.
• Center – The main member that’s the center of a band’s dance choreography. It’s also the member that a fan associates with a KPop group.
• CF – An acronym for “Commerical Film.”
• Chincha – “Really?!”/”Are you serious?!”
• Chocolate Abs – A man that has ultra-toned abdominal muscles, since it kinda resembles the Hershey bar’s sections.
• Comeback – This term is used when a KPop Idol/band release a new song/performance.
• Concept – It’s an album’s theme of the “day.”
• Cover Maker(s) – A fan that makes song(s) and dance covers.

D – G

• Daebak – A word that means “awesome” or “amazing” basically.
• Daesang – The highest music award that an Idol/KPop group can get.
• Debut – It’s when the trainee becomes an Idol by doing their first performance or their fist official single.
• Dongsaeng – An affectionate term that’s use for anyone younger than you.
• Double Eyelid – An eyelid crease that’s usually found on Westerners and it’s part of Korea’s beauty standard.
• Editors – A fan that makes fan gifs and Kpop edits.
• Eomeoni – A formal term for “Mother.”
• Eye Smile – It’s when eyes that position themselves in a certain way due to one smiling.
• Fan Cafe – A free virtual communit(ies) where fans can get official info, updates and news about Idols/bands by the record companies.
• Fan Club – An official website/place where fans pay for the membership and meet up in the net or irl. (Note: International fans aren’t allowed to join these types of clubs).
• Fansite Noonas – This type of fan(s) takes HQ pictures of Idol(s)/band.
• Fighting – A phrase that means “You can do it!” AKA “Hwaiting”
• Flower Boy – This is the Korean counterpart to Japan’s bishonen, an highly attractive man, especially a dandy, who values fashion.
• Friendship Fan – This type of fan is trying to turn their friends, family and relatives into KPop fans.
• Gangnam – A Seoul district that’s known for Idols, Stars and the like.
• Gomawo/Kamsahamnida – “Thank you”
• Graduation – It’s when a KPop artist/band retires from being an Idol.

H – I

• Fanchant(s) – This is when fans uses phrases, bits of lyrics, lines and other things specific to that particular artist/Idol/band before the performance(s).
• Hallyu – It refers to the 1990s when the Korean culture was rising into popularity. (AKA the “Korean Wave.”)
• Hanboks – A type of traditional Korean dress.
• Honey Thighs – A phrase referring to healthy and shapely legs.
• Hoobaes – The Hoobaes are band members with the less experience in KPop, they look up to and respect the leader-ish sunbae, who has the most experience.
• Horn Fan – The fan that’s picky of what type of KPop Idol/band that they stan.
• Hul – A slang word that’s used in awkward situations.
• Hypocrites – They’re closeted KPop fans that are hiding the fact that they like KPop, this type of fan lies about hating it, a fictional examples are Moya and Chief from BT21 series.
• Hyung – A Korean term meaning “Older brother.”
• Hyung Line – The older members of a KPop band.
• Idol – An Idol(s) is an artist/trainee that just done their first performance and is no longer a student at the entertainment school/agency. There’s different types of Idols.
• Idol Group(s) – It’s a band that consists of two or more performers.
• Idolization – It’s what a person, mainly an Idol, does to become as beautiful as possible.

J – L

• Jeju Island – The Korea’s own Hawaii “clone”, it’s a very idyllist island.
• Jjang – A Korean word that means “Best.”
• Jeongmal – A Korean equivalent of saying “Really?” or “Seriously?”
• Kekeke – It’s a cutesy way of saying “Hehehehe.”
• Killing Part – It’s what fans deem as the best part of the performance/music video/etc.
• Kkab – A word to describe an energetic annoying person or one that’s acting crazy.
• Konglish – It’s when a person mixes both Korean and English words, phrases, slang, and so forth.
• Koreaboo – A non-Korean that’s really obsessed with Korean pop culture, the cousin to the “Weeabo.”
• Lead(s) – This is the cousin to the word “Main.” But this word was a bit “downgraded” to mean the second best to the Mains.
• Leader – This member has the leadership role, he/she keeps the group organize, speak on the behalf of the group and is an ambassador betwix the group and the recording company/agency that they work for.

M – P

• Main – This word is usually referring to the lead vocal, the lead rapper or the lead dancer. Though it’s mainly use for those that are the best out of the group.
• Maknae – The youngest member of a KPop group.
• Maknae Line – The younger members of a KPop band.
• Mat-Seon – An overbearing yet meddling parent that meddles with their teenager/adult kid’s love life.
• Mother – This type of fan has been there long before the Idol/band made their first performance and has been following their training days for a long while.
• Music Shows – These are shows where the KPop artists and bands perform for the public.
• Mwongmi? – A Korean keyboard typo phrase meaning “What the…?!”
• Netizen – A phrase meaning “Internet Citizen.”
• Noona – A term that means “Older sister.”
• Noona Killer(s) – A fan, usually a young man, that knows hat to make an Idol to fall in love with him.
• Omo! – A Korean phrase meaning “OMG!”
• Oppa – Korean for “Older brother.”
• Oppar – A funny way of saying “Oppa.”
• OST – An acronym that means “Original Soundtrack[.”
• Otoke – A phrase that means “What to do?”, “What do I/we do?” and other similar phrases.
• Ottoke? – An expression of confusion or desperation.
• Over-Sensitive Ranter(s) – This type of fan thinks that the whole world hates the Idol/group that they fan over.
• Pedo-Noona – Mainly female fans that are attracted to younger male Idols, this term is used by international fans.
• Pyramid Fan – A fan that can balance his/her sensible list of Idols that they fave.

Q – S

• Q_Q – An emoticon that’s use for sarcasm and is similar to “TT” in meaning.
• Rookie(s) – This type of Idol/group is a new guy(s) that just debuted and hasn’t been accepted by fans as “official” yet.
• Sangnamja – The perfect man.
• Sarang – Korean for “Love.”
• Saranghae/Saranghaeyo – Korean for “I love you.”
• Sasaeng – A word that means ” .” It’s a stalker that’s the lite version of the main character of Enimen’s music vid. Mainly an extreme stalker that’s leagues beyond the average toxic fan.
• Selca – A combo of the words “Selfie” and “Camera.”
• Seven Year Curse – It’s when KPop group(s) last only for seven years, then disband. There’s only approximately 16 bands that survived.
• Simkung – A Korean phrase of two combo words that means “Heartthrob.”
• Skinship – It’s when two band members/two Idols touch each other.
• Small Face – The perfect face size that’s cute.
• Stan(s) – A dilutated word that mainly refers to just being a fan. It used to be a combo words of “stalker” and “fan.”
• Sub-Unit(s) – These are tiny bands that are within a larger KPop group, they’re also a chance for different members to get a spotlight and/or try different music genres that they wouldn’t normally do when they’re in a normally large group.
• Sunbae – The senior band member that has the most experience within the industry.

T – U

• Trainee – They are those that are going through the training in an Idol school/boot camp to become the next-gen Idols/KPop artists.
• Translator(s) – This type of fan translates the KPop stuff for those that don’t understand Korean, mainly for international fans.
• Trapezoid Fan – This fan are similar to the “Pyramid” but they have an insane bigger list of favorite KPop artist(s)/bands, and so forth.
• Sasaeng – A word that means ” .” It’s a stalker that’s the lite version of the main character of Enimen’s music vid. T
• Stan(s) – A dilutated word that mainly refers to just being a fan. It used to be a combo words of “stalker” and “fan.”
• Ulzzang – A phrase were fans consider which KPop Idol has the most attractive face of all.
• Unnie – Korean for “Older sister.”
• Ult Bias – A shorten form of “Ultimate Bias”, a word that’s to really describe a fan’s favorite idol out of all the groups that they’re a fan of.

V – Z

• V Live – This is a livestream platform that most KPop Idols/bands uses to interact with fans.
• Visual – A word that describes the most beautiful member(s)/Idol, this is based around the Korean beauty standards.
• Wae? – A Korean word meaning “Why?”. Aka Wae-Yo.
• World Star(s) – Exactly what it says, it’s when an Idol/band reached celebrity status both in their home country and abroad.
• Ya! – A rude word to get somebody’s attention and it’s also use as a substitute for curse words.
• Weekly Idol – This is a variety show that invites Idols and bands to participate in games.