The Oxford University Press announced that the dictionary’s September update included 26 words related to Korean culture.
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Some 20 new words have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) published by Oxford University Press in Britain, reflecting the spread of Korean culture across the globe.
The Oxford University Press announced that the dictionary’s September update included 26 words related to Korean culture.
“K-pop, K-drama, K-beauty, K-food, K-style–these days, everything seems to be getting prefixed with a K- as South Korea’s popular culture continues to rise in international popularity,” the publisher said.
The term ‘K-’ has been added as a combination form relating to South Korea and its popular culture.
The dictionary then added the etymologies and usage examples for the terms ‘K-drama,’ ‘hallyu,’ ‘mukbang’ and ‘manhwa,’ words related to Korean popular culture.
The word ‘daebak,’ an exclamatory expression widely used in South Korea, also made it to the dictionary. The OED defines ‘daebak’ as “something lucrative or desirable, especially when acquired or found by chance”, or “expressing enthusiastic approval.
Other Korean words ‘noona’ (older sister called by males), ‘oppa’ (older brother called by females), ‘unni’ (older sister called by females), have also been listed in the OED with explanations about how they are used differently based on the speaker’s gender and age difference.
The OED also explained that other Koreanized English expressions such as ‘skinship’ and ‘fighting’ are either combinations of two English words or have an English etymology with distinct definitions understood by Koreans.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
