~ Kpop slang 101 ~

Hello everyone, and welcome to "Kpop slang 101"! If you're new to the Kpop world and struggle to understand the "Kpop language", you're in the right place :) This article is like a dictionary for the words we often use within the Kpop community, words that usually don't make sense but that will after you read this. I mentioned the word dictionary, and that's because this article will act like one. All the words will be listed by alphabetical order, with a small definition (and if possible an example). The list will regularly be updated as I might think of other words later on. You can also suggest new words through the comment section, don't be shy!

A

Aegyo: 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: Equivalent of "geez". 

Ahjumma: Word used to designate middle-aged married women (don't call a woman in her 30s ahjumma).

Ahjussi: Word used to designate middle-aged married men. 

B

Bias: Your bias is basically your favourite member of a certain group. Ex: My bias (favourite member) in TXT is Yeonjun. 

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 TXT is Hueningkai, meaning that Hueningkai is a close second to Yeonjun. 

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 BTS), we can talk about the big 4 instead of the big 3. 

B-side track: 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

Comeback: When a group or an artist releases a new song, mini-album, or full album after some time of absence. 

D

Daebak: Translates to "Wow", "Amazing". You can use it to express a situation in which you are amazed, or even surprisingly shocked. 

Daesang: Grand prize rewarded to Kpop artists who sold the highest amount of digital and physical albums. 

Debut: When a group or a solo artist releases their first song or album and start promoting on music shows for the first time. 

Disband: When a group terminates all their activities. Either the contracts are not renewed (usually idol contracts last for 7 years), or one of the parties decides to end the contract (either the company or the members themselves).

Drama: It's the Korean equivalent of series, whenever we say drama we can replace this word by series. 

Dongsaeng: Can mean both little brother and little sister. You can add "Yeo" for girls and "nam" for boy.

E

Eonnie (or noona): Older sister

End-of-year 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. 

F

Fanbase/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". 

Fanchant: 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.

Fingerheart: 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

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

Hallyu: That's how we call the "Korean wave" (the spread of the Korean culture all around the world). 

Hyung (or Oppa): Older brother. 

Hwaiting: A word of encouragement. Synonym of "fighting", "break a leg". 

I

Idol: When someone officially debuts, they pass from the status of "trainee" to the status of "idol". That's how Kpop stars are called. 

K

Kpop band: The difference between a Kpop group and Kpop band is the instruments. Groups dance, bands play their instruments.

L

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. 

M

Maknae: The youngest member of a group. 

Multi-fandom (or multi): When someone supports more than one artist or one group at once. 

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. 

O

OST: Translates to Original Soundtrack, which are soundtracks of movies or dramas (usually dramas). A lot of Idols and Groups of idols record soundtracks to help the promotion of movies and dramas. For example, the OST for the drama "Itaewon Class" was sung by Woosung of the Korean Band "The Rose". 

R

Rookie: When an idol or a group debuts, they are not immediately called "idols" but "rookies". It is the status of groups and artists who have just started their careers, the "newbies". 

S

Sasaeng: Crazy fans to the point of obsession. They are capable of everything just to touch an idol, get an object from them or get a picture with them. Idols suffer from the behaviour of these fans, which cannot be called fans. 

Sub-unit: A sub-group within a group, example: NCT 127 is a sub-unit within the group NCT. 

Sunbae: Senior (in the academic field and professional field)

T

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, and it is what makes Kpop idols so performant starting from their debut. 

U

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

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. Some groups have their own Variety/Reality shows like Seventeen with "Going Seventeen", BTS with "Run BTS", and TXT with "TalkXToday". 

V Live: A type of social media used by Kpop idols to communicate with fans. They stream on it, give juicy information, sing live, or just chat with their fans.