안녕하세요!
It’s the second 단어짱! post. What’s that, you ask? Sometimes when I encounter interesting vocabulary words in shows and reading materials, I find it difficult to find their meanings – this new series aims to introduce random, interesting vocab to other self-taught students. I am also happy to answer anyone who submits an interesting, difficult-to-understand Korean word of their own.
Today’s 단어짱!
이쪽커플: gay or lesbian couple
My friend stumbled upon this hashtag on Instagram, and it seems that some members of the Korean LGBTQ community uses this hashtag to identify themselves – for example, on Instagram, mainly self-identified lesbian couples are posting couple selfies under this hashtag. This website defines the term as applicable to and the most commonly used phrase for both gay and lesbian couples.
이쪽: this way, this direction
커플: couple
From the above website, which also introduces other related 용어, or slang terms:
이쪽 : 게이와 레즈비언이 모두 사용하는 용어로 이반과 같은 의미를 가지고 있다. 현재는 이반이라는 용어는 많이 사용하지 않고 ‘이쪽’이라는 용어를 많이 사용한다. ‘이쪽’은 울타리와 같은 의미로 ‘이쪽 사람들’을 찾아 소통하거나 만남을 갖는다.
If you’ve ever paid attention to dialogue in genderswap dramas, you may have noticed that Koreans often use “이쪽” or 그쪽” to indirectly say that they are or are not gay. English has some similarities, where some people might carefully say, “I don’t swing that way,” to say that they’re not hetero- or homosexual, depending on the situation.
Hopefully this 단어짱! post was interesting and helpful! 열공~
서울드림 