Terms Every K-Pop Fan Should Know!

There are a lot of slang terms centered around the K-pop universe that fans of Korean entertainment should definitely learn. If you are new to the K-Pop world, this is the right post for you. Learning the about K-Pop can be extremely difficult, especially if you don’t understand the terminology that comes with it. Since there is a lot of vocabulary that comes with K-Pop I will post four new terms every week. Here are the top common terms you should know as a K-Pop lover:

1. Bias

If there’s one thing that comes with loving K-pop it’s having a favorite member of a K-Pop group. When you have a favorite member, you simply title them as your “bias.”

Example: bias can change many times and many K-pop fans struggle with sticking to one bias. K-Pop fans often say “Kim Taehyung from BTS is a bias wrecker,” meaning that Taehyung is coming very close to being that fan’s new bias and replacing her original bias

Memes related to the term “Bias”

(Left Image Source, Right Image Source)

2. Netizens

Although many know netizens to mean “citizens of the net,” K-netizens (Korean Netizens) is a bit more intense. K-netizens are popular for being able to find out the smallest details about idols and bashing them about it. K-netizens often comment cryptic comments on idols social media or articles that affect them emotionally.

Example #1: The article “10 Kpop Idols Who Admitted Suffering from Mean Netizen Comments” written by Ciera Starlight, Starlight writes shares about the idols who have been affecting by the cruel words of K-netizens:
Solo idol singer Ailee faced a hard time as netizens bash on her for the way she climbed up in the music industry

3. Point Dance

Point dance basically means the man part of the dance or the most memorable and striking part. Dancing arises as a major part of a K-pop group’s performance. Before debuting, idols learn to be stable in their breathing and singing while dancing to create a powerful performance. Every song in K-pop helps create the song as fans will remember it by learning the dance moves that correlate with it.

Example #1: The Show “Let’s Dance” helps fans learn dances from the K-pop idols themselves. Instead of teaching the whole dance, the groups often times teach the point dance of the song:

Songs of K-pop groups and soloist often become famous because of how impactful their point dance is

Example #1: Sunmi “Gashina.” Solo idol Sunmi’s “Gashina” was a huge hit in Korea as the song contained beautiful lyrics and a colorful beat. Although the song itself is great, the dance of “Gashina” is what made the song rise as a hot topic. The point dance of “Gashina” involves making your fingers into a gun shape and pointing it directly in front of you.
(Left Image Source, Right Image Source)

4. Eye-smile

The term eye-smile is a little hard to explain. Eye-smile is basically when an idols eyes turn into a curve shape, much like a rainbow or a crescent moon
Eyesmile is better understood through visual representation rather than words. Here are some pics and GIFS of eye-smile