How to use K-pop to make yourself seem smart.

How do I seem more smart, worldly and wise than I actually am? To be honest I don't travel much outside of North America. However, being knowledge rich in another countries' source of pride, like K-pop, can do that for you. It can make you more interesting, knowledgeable and thus seem smarter without you actually spending any money to travel there.

Today's topic is going to be about K-pop, no surprise there right?

Really though, I will be talking about K-pop words/phrases that will come up, whether through when I speak/write and even through just learning or experiencing the K-pop genre as a fan.

I have been asked over the past several days since starting this Steemit journey about what certain terms meant, these questions usually coming from originally non-kpop fans. So, let's start!

Most common terms in K-pop:

K-pop/Kpop

K-pop (also written as Kpop) is a genre of music. It is often referred to as Korean pop music but it is not as simple as that. K-pop is a genre of popular music from South Korea that incorporates pop, hiphop, r&b, electronica, reggae, and includes other musical influences. This makes K-pop its own unique genre of music.

Maknae

The youngest of a group.

Examples:

Jungkook is the maknae of BTS

Seohyun is the maknae of SNSD (Girls' Generation)

Aeygo

Acting cute often using gestures, cute baby voices, and innocent charms. Boys and girls can/do both use/have Aeygo.

Examples:

Extra

Acting/being over-the-top or excessive

This is not necessarily just a K-pop term as it is used all over the place. I have seen it used in general so I am including it here.

Visual

This is considered a role in a group. It means that the member is the most beautiful/handsome in terms of conventional beauty standards (Korean standards), in otherwords, is the most asthetically pleasing.

Examples:

Jin of BTS (He is considered the Visual of his group)
Third from the left

Jisoo of BLACKPINK
Second from the right

Bias

Favorite. A fans personal favorite.

Eye smile

When someone smiles and it makes a crescent-moon shape with their eyes, it's like the eyes are an upside down smile looking at you. It is considered very pleasing in South Korea and is sometimes used as a way to flirt or show Aegyo.

Examples:

Oppa

Means older brother when said by a girl. In K-pop it is not literally meaning brother, more so it is used to show affection for a male who is older than the girl speaking and that she trusts. It can often be a way to flirt.

You will find the term Oppa in many songs sung by girl groups

Examples of songs:

Oh! - SNSD
Boombahyah - BLACKPINK

There are more but these are just some examples you can check out

Netizen

An avid user of the internet (citizen of the internet). However, it is not that black and white in terms of definition. Netizens are also know to often police or be a moral voice/activist online and can also be known to blowing things out of proportion and sometimes bullying. Most commonly when someone refers to a Netizen it is being referred to as someone who finds out information and blows things out of proportion.

Stan

An avid fan or supporter (loyal and dedicated).

Ship

Also referred to as shipping, is the support as a fan for a romantic relationship between two people (usually referring to idols). Often fans will say this ship a pair/couple that aren't together, but they mean that they would support/be happy to see those two together.

Skinship

Refers to physical contact that shows closeness through touch. It could be as simple as group members grazing arms, to idols/members hugging each other, to pecks on the cheek.

Examples:

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTIM2ofdYSJ68BIka93LB7kR61XUJmWldyvYfDBQ9NKS3fTNy1Yrw

Fighting!/Hwaiting!

Cheer for encouragement and good luck. It can also mean "you can do it" or " you got this".

Bias ruiner/Bias wrecker

An member/singer that almost makes you consider switching from your bias to like them the most instead.

Concept

The image/theme of their current promotional activies/videos/music. Oftem times groups/singers/idols will have at least a few different concepts throughout their careers.

Examples:
Girl groups that start off with cute concepts and then go to sexy.

Boy groups that start with hip-hop concepts and then go to cute concepts.

Rookie

Newer to the industry, a group or an idol that have recently (within a few years) debuted. They are still considered fairly new to the industry.

Selca

Korean version of a selfie. It is a picture taken of one-self using a camera phone.

Sasaeng

Obsessed fan. This type of fan is overly obsessed and often resorts to following, stalking, breaking into idols homes, etc.

Fangirling/Fanboying

A method of reacting, usually in higher than normal or extreme excitement on something to do with a bias. This can be considered smiling more that usual, Screaming or squealing in joy upon seeing them, and over-excited behaviour.

Examples:

I have shared that I fangirl a little bit in one of my latest Youtube videos if you haven't seen it here it is again.

Another example would be screaming girls at concerts.

That's it! I hope after reading this you have a bit of an easier time understanding some of the terms that you will encounter while listening to, watching anything to do with, or just exploring K-pop and it's world.

If you have anything you wish to know about K-pop or want to know my opinion on, then feel free to post below. I look forward to hearing what you all think.

[Images above are not my work, credit to the owners. The images are used for reference purposes only]