Language Journal #6 Shortened Words
While looking for topics on what to do for my language presentation I was struggling to find something that would be interesting but also fun. I decided to do 줄임말 or shortening words a subject that is very popular online and widely used through text. These "shortened words" range from phrases that only use the first character of each morpheme or two morphemes that are combined. However, the older generation of Korean adults who are not using the internet as often don't know most of these phrases. That way only the "cool" people or 인싸 (insider) who are often scrolling through social media would figure out and use these terms.
Starting from our basics we have:ㅋㅋㅋㅋ and ㅎㅎㅎㅎ These characters are all short for the laughing sound Keke and hehe respectively.
Then we have ㅜㅜㅜ and ㅠㅠㅠㅠ which would be used as a crying emoji and sound. We move onto ㅎㅇ which are characters for the word "Hi" or 하이 the word "Bye" however has many variations from ㅃ,ㅃ ㅃ, ㅃ ㅇ, ㅂ ㅂ, ㅂㅇ.
A very common phrase that would be used when texting is ㅇ ㅈ which stands for 인정 or I agree and acknowledge what you are saying OR I acknowledge your skills and knowledge on a subject.
When congratulating someone you would send ㅊㅊㅊㅊㅊ or ㅊㅋ characters that stand for 축하합니다. When you want to thank someone for their time but in a more informal or chill manner, you would send ㄱㅅ short for 감사합니다.
Now for common phrases that are shortened, I think these are very comedic and provide insight as to the lexicon of the Korean people and what is important or similar in their culture.
One shortened word that allows us to see the materialist and consumerism of the Korean people is 홧김비용 which literally translates to "In the moment spending" but is used for an impulsive purchase that is done. Other spending related terms would be 멍청비용, 멍청 which means "Dumb” 비용 “Spending” or to be more specific the spending of your money to live, these words when combined are used when you have bought the wrong thing. 나심비, 나 which is the character for "me",심리 the word for the psychological state”, and 가성비 “cost-effectiveness". When combined these words would mean treating yourself to shopping or spending money to better your mental health.
A couple of relationships or love related shortened phrases:
금사빠 the first character 금방 means right away or immediately, 사랑에 love,빠지다 when is the verb for falling into, however in the Korean language this word stands for someone who "Falls in love right away". It is similar to love at first sight but with a slightly negative connotation since as easily as you can fall in love you can fall out of it.
Finally, my favorite phrase that is instantly relatable to anyone who understands them:졌질싸 which when combined means "even though it was a good fight" 졌지만 even though I lost, 잘 word for good and 싸웠다 fought but in the past tense. This phrase would be used when you would study hard for a test but still not get the grade you thought you deserved, you would then text your friend 졌질싸 with some ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ.
Replies
I think shortened words in Korean can also be a really important task to learn! Nowadays, young people in Korea used a lot of shortened words in their daily life. Even the news report used some shortened words which make it much harder to read if you are not familiar with the shortened words.