Alan Smith of English Premier League club Manchester United arrives at Incheon International Airport on July 18, 2007, during the team’s Asia tour, acknowledging cheering fans as he exits the arrival hall. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — A quirky phrase commonly used in South Korea to describe someone’s peak years or bygone glory has its roots in an English football transfer — a linguistic journey that recently drew the attention of the BBC.
The expression, “Leeds days,” is now widely used in Korean to refer to a person’s prime, golden age or moment of greatest success. But as BBC reported this week, the term emerged in the mid-2000s following the career arc of Alan Smith, a former England international.
Smith left Leeds United in 2004 for Manchester United, a move that drew close attention from Korean football fans. When his performances at Manchester failed to match the form he had shown at Leeds, online communities in South Korea began referring nostalgically to his “Leeds days” — a shorthand for a lost peak.
The phrase spread rapidly as interest in English football surged in South Korea, fueled in part by the arrival of national icon Park Ji-sung at Manchester United in 2005. Over time, the expression broke free from its football origins, becoming a versatile part of everyday Korean language.
Today, “Leeds days” is used to describe anything from youthful vigor to the height of fame, popularity or wealth — often without any awareness of its sporting backstory. A Korean-language instructor at the University of Leeds told the BBC that the meaning has evolved steadily, and that younger speakers increasingly shorten the phrase to simply “Leeds.”
As the broadcaster noted, millions of Koreans now use the term casually, even as many remain unfamiliar with the English city or the footballer whose career inadvertently left a lasting mark on the Korean lexicon.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
