Decoding Korean [쌩얼] #15

A few days ago I learnt a new Korean colloquialism:

쌩얼

Pronounced: Ssaeng-Oel 

This word is used when someone's face is make-up free. 쌩 means 'saint'  and 얼 is an abbreviation of 얼굴 which means 'face'. I've seen this word being used a lot when Korean celebrities upload makeup-free pictures of themselves on Twitter.

Decoding Korean [ㅅㄱ] #14

We haven't posted a Decoding Korean post in a while but I'll definitely try posting them more regularly. The word I'll be decoding today is:

ㅅㄱ

 As this word consists of just two constants it does not make a distinct sounds so it would be used as interenet or text slang among youths. 'ㅅㄱ' is basically 'S K'.

ㅅㄱ stands for '수고했어요' which means 'you've worked hard' or 'well done'.

Decoding Korean [길막] #13

The slang word we'll be teaching you today is:

길막

Pronounced: Gil-Mak

길막 is a colloquial term which means 'traffic jam'. It is an abbreviation of 길을 막히다 where 길 means 'road' or 'path' and 막히다 means 'to be blocked'.

Try using this phrase the next time you're stuck in traffic. =P

Decoding Korean [열공] #12

So heres another long overdue decoding Korean post. The word I shall focus on today is:

'열공'

Pronounced: 'Yeol-Gong' 

This is an abbreviation of the phrase '열심히 공부해요' which means 'study hard' as '열심히' means hard and '공부해요' means 'study'.

I've seen this phrase as lot on Facebook when my Korean friends are talking amongs themselves.

Decoding Korean [즐겜] #10

Today the word we'll be decoding is:

  즐겜 

This means 'enjoy the game' or a more direct translation is 'play an enjoyable game' (whichsounds a bit awkward in my opinion).

'

  즐겜' derived from the word '즐거운 게임 해요' where ' 즐거운 게임' means fun game and '해요' means to do.

Although I've never heard this word, it was one of the first words my friends said what I asked about Korean slang. =)

Decoding Korean [ㄷㄷㄷ] #9

Time to decode another one of those enigmatic Korean words:

ㄷㄷㄷ

This term is used when you are frightened. It derives from the words 떨리다 which means shake or vibrate and expression that can be used when you are shaking with fear.
Sometimes, 덜덜덜 tends to be used too. We've seen the phrase '덜덜덜' appear often in various Korean variety programs.

Decoding Korean [ㅂㅂ] #8

Recently my friend keeps ending her emails with :

ㅂㅂ

So I asked her what it meant and it turns out it stands for 'bye bye'.

ㅂㅂ is an abbreviation of 바이 바이 [pronounced: ba-ee ba-ee] which is basically 'bye bye'.
Pretty cool, right?
^^

Decoding Korean [초딩] #7

I've haven't written one of these posts in a while. So what word shall we decode today? =)


초딩


Pronounced: Cho-Ding


This word can be used to mean 'elementary school student'


It is an abbreviation of 초등학생 where ' 초등' means elementary and '학생' means student.


I've heard the word 초딩 being used a lot in variety shows when someone is being really childish and immature.

Decoding Korean [강추] #5

What shall we decode today?

강추

Pronounced: Gang-Choo

This word is used to mean 'strongly recommend'.

It is an abbreviation of 강력 추천 where 강력 means strong and 추천means recommend.

Decoding Korean [비번] #4

It's about that time where try to crack Korean again.

The word of the day is:

비번

Pronounced: Bi-Beon

It's an abbreviation of '비밀 번호' where 비밀 means passwords and 번호 means number.

Although most major Korean websites such as Naver will tend to use 비밀 번호, you might hear your Korean friends say 비번.

Decoding Korean [헐] #3

The next word we shall decode is:

헐

Pronounced: Heol

This word is used when someone is slightly shocked or surprised about something. It is usually used by teenagers in Korea.

From my own experience, I remember hearing several high school students saying this when I was taking them on a tour of my university. I showed them a wooden box that contained Jeremy Benthams corpse and all I heard was '헐'. Haha. 

Decoding Korean [깜놀] #1

Have you even tried to translate Korean phrase that even Google Translate cannot help you understand?  Well now you have us at hand to help you overcome this problem.

Today we say decode:

깜놀

Pronounced: Ggam Nol

This expression is used when you are really surprised by something

It is an abbreviation of: 깜짝 놀라다