Frequently Used KPop Terms

Korean Terms

 * hyung: honorific used by males to address an older male with a small age difference [ex: Thunder of MBLAQ would call G.O. and Seungho his hyungs]
 * noona: honorific used by males to address an older female with a small age difference
 * oppa: honorific used by females to address an older male with a small age difference, term often used as aegyo
 * unnie: honorific used by females to address an older female with a small age difference


 * sunbae: (in the case of KPop music) honorific used to address someone who has been in the music industry for a longer time, though not necessarily older [ex: EXO would call Super Junior their sunbaes]
 * hoobae: (in the case of KPop music) honorific used to address someone who has been in the music industry for a shorter time, though not necessarily younger [ex: Super Junior would call EXO their hoobaes]
 * maknae: the youngest in a group [ex: Ren is the maknae of NU'EST]


 * sasaeng fan: obsessed fan who spends much of their time and money tracking down and following their favorite idols
 * ulzzang: literally "best face," good-looking, pretty, handsome person [ex: Himchan of B.A.P is considered an ulzzang]
 * -dol: used to describe the genre or image of a certain idol or idol group [ex: Infinite is often referred to as "trend-dols;" 2PM is often referred to as "beastly-dols"]
 * choding: elementary schooler, used to refer to a childish, immature person
 * babo: idiot
 * aegyo: acts of cuteness
 * kyopta: cute
 * ppuing ppuing: phrase with no particular meaning used as aegyo
 * ssanti: distasteful and cheap (not referring to money)
 * kkab/kkap: overreacting, exaggerated [ex. Jokwon of 2AM is often referred to as the "kkab king"]

English Terms

 * CF: "commercial film," often starring certain idols to promote the product
 * teaser: short video released before a music video to promote it and give viewers a glimpse at the upcoming video, like a short trailer
 * flower boy: pretty boy (not a negative title)

Terms Used by English Speakers

 * hard subs: subtitles added as part of the video, unlike soft subs
 * soft subs: subtitles added through the video-viewing website [ex: subtitles added on YouTube as CC or annotations]