It goes beyond learning their names and singing along with their songs. Stanning BTS means learning a few iconic Korean phrases so that you can connect with 방탄소년단 (bang-tan son-yeon-dan) and fellow ARMY at a deeper level. After all, if these bulletproof boy scouts can sing and rap in fluent Spanish with Chicken Noodle Soup at their 8th debut anniversary concert, we can definitely pick up some Korean phrases to impress them.
It’s a pretty steep learning curve. Are you up for the challenge?
1. 보라해 bo-ra-hae: I Purple You
This is the iconic lingua franca between international and Korean-speaking ARMY. This unique phrase is created by V, who said that “Purple is the last colour of the rainbow. Purple means I will trust and love you for a long time.”
As a combination of the colour purple (보라 bo-ra) and I love you (사랑해 sa-rang-hae), “보라해” (bo-ra-hae) is represented as the purple heart emoji. Both ARMY and BTS convey their love and loyalty with it!
2. 쩔어 jjeor-eo: Dope
“쩔어” (jjeor-eo) is what we hope this list of phrases is going to be, in any case. You hear BTS yelling the phrase “난 좀 쩔어” (nan jom jjeor-eo), which translates to “I’m kinda dope!” in their song, DOPE, before J-Hope dives into his rap.
3. 소리 질러 so-li jil-leo: Make some noise
The full concert experience is only complete with BTS shouting “Make some noise!” and the whole crowd frantically waving their ARMY bombs. Sometimes that’s “소리 질러” (romanized as so-li jil-leo) – always a handy phrase to know so that we’re fully prepared for any concerts!
4. 모두 뛰어 mo-du twi-eo: Everybody jump
You scream, I jump, we storm the whole stadium down. Yeah, that sounds about right! “모두” (mo-du) means “all”, and “뛰어” (twi-eo) comes from the word “뛰다” (twi-da) which means to run or jump.
Watch BTS teach us so-li jil-leo and mo-du twi-eo in this video, along with a few other words:
5. 피, 땀, 눈물 pi ttam nun-mul: Blood, sweat, tears
BTS wouldn’t be here today if not for the ordeals they’ve pushed through and overcome. Every drop of 피 (pi), 땀 (ttam), and 눈물 (nun-mul) that comes with the tough trainee and idol life is certainly not for the weak-willed.
Watch their Blood, Sweat & Tears music video:
Beyond their catchy tunes and incredible work ethic, their admirable attitude and inner strength has also helped them grow and become a source of inspiration to fans all over the world. Suga, for instance, has shared openly about his battle with depression and how therapy has helped him. His solo mixtape album, D-2, released under his other alias AGUST D last year, addresses heavy topics such as contending with imposter syndrome in Moonlight, and losing his hometown friend to drug abuse in the pensive and deeply personal song, Dear My Friend.
6. 불타오르네 bul-ta-o-reu-ne: It’s burning up
We covered this briefly in our previous article about BTS songs, but it’s too hot to give it a miss.
불타오르네 (bul-ta-o-reu-ne) comes from “불타는” (bul-ta-neun), meaning fiery or flaming. Fire remains one of their most iconic songs from their first compilation album, The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: Young Forever.
7. 술잔, 팔짱, 티르소스, 포도 sul-jan, pal-jjang, ti-reu-so-seu, po-do: Sippin’, Tippin’, Grippin’, Eatin’
The addictive Dionysus beat keeps up its power with the intense rapping – the song wastes no time starting off interchanging the Korean lyrics and their English equivalents as BTS announces their grand entrance, Olympian-style. Try rapping this: “술잔 (sul-jan), sippin’, 팔짱 (pal-jjang), tippin’, 티르소스 (ti-reu-so-seu), grippin’, 포도 (po-do), eatin’!”
As if this song couldn’t get any flashier, they brought live horses to their MMA 2019 stage. Say what? Watch it here, around the 30-minute mark:
8. 노잼 no-jaem: Not funny
Ah, the iconic moment RM dissed his group member with “Jimin you got no jams” – it was a pun on the Korean slang word “노잼” (no-jaem), meaning “not funny”. The word “잼” (jaem) comes from the word “재미” (jae-mi), meaning “fun”.
RM probably said it in jest, because Jimin is one of the funniest people we know with his habit of laughing too hard and falling off chairs.
9. 얼굴천재 eol-gul-cheon-jae: Face genius
This Korean slang describes someone who is very pretty or handsome. You might have heard Jin’s iconic introduction of, ahem, himself. His origin story is impeccable: he was scouted by their label on the streets while on his way to school during college.
Another contender for “얼굴천재” (eol-gul-cheon-jae) is BTS’ V, who was voted most handsome man in the world for three consecutive years.
In fact, one of his nicknames is “CGV”, short for “Computer-Generated V”, because he looks too good to be true in real life – people swear he looks as though he’s a living, breathing CGI anime character.
10. 보고 싶다 bo-go ship-da: I miss you
The iconic opening lines from their hit song, Spring Day, also accurately captures the sentiments of all ARMYs right now. Even though they’ve recently celebrated their eighth debut anniversary with their Sowoozoo concert, our hearts keep beating to the rhythm of “보고 싶다” (bo-go ship-da).
10 Swanky New Korean Phrases to Power Up ARMYs’ Prowess
Now list all 10 phrases in Korean – don’t scroll up!
Just kidding. If you enjoyed this article, you might like our deep dive into why Gen Xers are falling into the BTS rabbit hole.
