Seven new Korean words have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. This reflects the growing presence of Korean culture in the English-speaking world. This was reported by The Korea Herald, according to UNN.
Details
In particular, in the December 2024 update, seven Korean words were added to the dictionary: dalgona, hyung, noraebang, maknae, jjigae, tteokbokki, and pansori.
As indicated, this is not the first time Korean words have been added to the Oxford Dictionary. For example, in 2021, 26 Korean terms were added to the dictionary, including K-drama, Hallyu, mukbang, and daebak.
Among this year's seven new terms, “dalgona” is defined as “a Korean confection made by adding baking soda to melted sugar, usually sold by street vendors as a flat disk with a simple shape such as a heart, star, etc. cut into its surface.” This delicacy is well known to fans of the TV series “The Squid Game,” where one of the games was cutting out dalgona shapes.
As an example of the word's use in a sentence, the dictionary presents an article from the Boston Globe from October 2022: “Netflix just released 'The Squid Game,' a Korean hit that has fans flocking to dalgona candy. Many have turned to TikTok to recreate the inexpensive sweet treat.
Another addition is that “maknae” is defined as “the youngest person in a family or group; (now) in particular, the youngest member of a K-pop band.
The dictionary is reportedly already considering more Korean words for future updates, including “haenyeo” (female divers from Jeju Island), “ajumma” (middle-aged women), and “bingsu” (shaved ice dessert).
Recall
The Oxford Dictionary chose the term “brain rot” as the word of the year 2024 after 37 thousand people voted. The term describes the deterioration of mental health due to excessive consumption of online content.