What’s a “dongsaeng,” anyway? How about “unnie”? Is that my name?
No, silly – these are all Korean words! Learn more about the Korean language by going through this glossary of frequently used Korean terms.
—-BASIC HONORIFICS—-
👫 동생 (dongsaeng)
A gender-neutral term that means “little brother” or “little sister.” This term and the following ones are honorifics, signs of respect. Even if you are not blood-related, you may still call others “bro, sis,” or even “auntie” or “uncle.”
👭 언니 (unnie)
Literally means “older sister.” It’s a term that younger females use to address an older female. Alternate romanization (phonetic) spellings include unni, eonni, and eonnie.
👫 누나 (noona)
Another word for “older sister,” but is a term that younger males use to address an older female. Alternate spellings: nuna.
👫 오빠 (oppa)
Literally means “older brother.” Used by younger females to call an older male. It can also be used as a flirty word, like “baby,” “darling,” etc.
👬 형 (hyung)
Literally means “older brother.” Used by younger males to call an older male. Alternate spellings: hyeong.
👩👧👦엄마 (umma)
Literally means “mom.” Alternate spellings: eomma.
👨👦👦아빠 (appa)
Literally means “dad.” Alternate spellings: ah-bba.
👵🏻 할머니 (halmoni)
Literally means “grandma.” Alternate spellings: halmonee.
👴🏻 할아버지 (halaboji)
Literally means “grandpa.” Alternate spellings: haraboji.
👩🏻 이모 (eemo)
Literally means “auntie.” Alternate spellings: emo.
👱🏻♂️삼촌 (samchon)
Literally means “uncle.” Alternate spellings: samchoon (for pronounciation).
—CULTURAL TERMS—
🌎 한류 (hallyu)
A term denoting the Hallyu Wave, or the Korean Wave. It describes the pop culture of Korea (namely K-pop, K-dramas, Korean films and TV shows) and the increasing global popularity of Korea’s entertainment industry since the 1990s.
🇰🇷 가요 (gayo) vs. 케이팝 (K-pop)
“Gayo” is a Korean term that describes the entirety of Korean music, not just K-pop. There used to be no existing term for “K-pop,” as this was a completely new, never-before-heard term until only recently. The word “K-pop” was created by English speakers, and is only recently being used in Korea as well. It describes popular music and commodities (i.e. albums, live stages, music videos, etc.) marketed towards the youth.
👩🏻🎤 아이돌 (idol)
I’ve noticed that Westerners find it really weird that we call Korea’s teen boy/girl singers “idols.” Instead of a worshipping term, the term “idol” is literally attributed to popular young K-pop singers that create music marketed towards teenagers.
*Will be updated when there are more terms needed to be clarified!
✏️ dear dongsaeng 