The K-Dictionary: Vocabulary all K-Pop fans should know

It is almost a job on itself to be obsessed with K-Pop and the hundreds of idols that sing it. Every line of work has jargon which is used to communicate amongst those in the field. The same goes for the K-Pop fandom. Seriously, do the math. If one group has, on average, six members, image how many artists you will end up loving if you listen to, let's say, 100 songs? That's a lot of music videos, dramas, movies, and variety shows you will end up watching in order to stay in-the-know about your favorite K-Pop groups. If you want to understand the crazy world of K-Pop, the following words are important for you to know, so start taking notes!

Side Note:

1. I know I called this article "K-Dictionary," but the terms won't be in alphabetical order. Instead, I ordered them in a way that allows you to understand the term after each term. This is why I started with K-Pop, because it is the broadest topic in the article. If you are looking for a particular term and are a PC user, press Ctrl + f, and Mac users, press ⌘ + f, to find it.

2. To be 100% honest with you, these definitions are basically my own take on things. Others might disagree, others might add something, others might take some information out of my definitions, but at the end of the day they are what I came to the conclusion these words meant after years of being a huge K-Pop fan. With many years, songs, dramas, variety shows, and two levels of beginners Korean under my belt, I am confident that I am mostly correct. Still, take all of these with a grain of salt. Anyways, this list will at least help you get around the online forums and such, it's a great place to start. Enjoy!

K-Pop: Stands for "Korean Pop," and that is exactly what it is. Pop music originated and sung (mostly) in the Korean Language. For more information, refer to my "What Is K-Pop?!" article.

Idol: This is how most K-Pop artists are called. I say most because it is reserved for artists who are part of a boy or girl-group. Solo singers, unless they are also part of a group, would not be considered an idol. For example, IU, one of the most famous solo performers in Korea at the moment, would not be referred to as an idol, she is a singer. Yet, Taemin, famous for having several solo hits in Korea, is considered an idol because he is also part of popular boy-group, SHINee. Another distinction is that although idols can be called artists, many do not meet the entire definition of that word, since they have almost no say in the type of music/choreography/outifts/music videos they release. Instead, their companies are the ones that choose everything, and the idols simply have to follow orders. This is changing, since every year groups have more and more say on the artistic side of their jobs. Going back to IU and Taemin, IU has most of the artistic power over her own music, while Taemin has much (MUCH) less.

Album/Mini-Album/EP/Single: In the early years of K-Pop, entertainment companies would plan for their boy/girl-groups to come out with full length albums, but nowadays more and more mini-albums or EPs, which are short albums with only four to six songs, are becoming the norm. Currently, due to the heavy competition within the K-Pop industry, K-groups are even coming out with singles, which contain three, two, or even just one song. As long as they have one song, they can promote it and continue being relevant in the industry. This is important in the K-Pop industry, because without constant new releases groups take the risk of being forgotten.

Music-Shows/Programs: Each one of South-Korea's biggest broadcasting companies host a Music-Show/program on certain nights of the week. There are nine music-shows during the week. Some air multiple nights, others only air once a week. During these shows, which are hosted by different celebrities (mostly idols), artists, idols, or idol groups that have just released new music will perform their song/dance in front of an audience. Although most performances are pre-recorded, the hosts, as well as the performers, appear live throughout the night for interviews and other entertaining small sketches. At the end of the most music-shows, an artist, band, idol, or idol group is awarded a trophy for winning through a combination of votes, album-sales, etc. (The voting system is different depending on the show).

Stage: An artist, band, idol, idol-group performance in a recorded show. For example, every time a group performs in a music-show, their recorded performance is called a stage. If someone asks you, "what was your favorite Twice stage?" they are asking what your favorite show performance from famous girl-group, Twice, was.

Stage-mix: A stage-mix is a combination of different performances (of one song only) that an artist, band, idol, or idol group did during their promotional cycle. It can be a mix of several performances in one show, or a mixture of performances in different music-shows. Below, you can watch an EXO stage-Mix for their song "POWER." The following example is a stage-mix of performances in different music-shows. Enjoy!

Debut: After a new girl or boy group is created, they release their first single. The first time they perform on any stage is considered their debut. It is the same for any artist or band. Also, if a member of an idol group is releasing her/his first solo album/single, it is a called a solo debut. Check out Seventeen's debut below. To this day, I still believe it is one of the best debut stages ever! Side Note: I am aware that they had performances in other stages prior to this one, but this is considered their debut in this particular music-show.

Comeback: Each time a group comes out with a new single, mini-album/ep, or full length album, they promote it in many ways, primarily by participating in Music-Shows. This is called a comeback, because they are coming back with another song/promotion cycle.

Concept: Every time a group makes a comeback, they prepare a new concept. A concept is an specific image/idea the K-group is basing everything on. Everything includes the song itself, their choreography, stage decorations/props, outfits, hair, makeup, and other factors. Click on the gallery below for examples from the "Kings of Concepts" themselves, boy-group VIXX!

"Super Hero"

"Rock Ur Body"

"On and On"

"Hyde"

"Voodoo Doll"

"Error"- Leo Teaser Photo

"Error"- Hongbin Teaser Photo

"Error"- Hyuk Teaser Photo

"Chained Up"

"Shangri-La"

"Scentist"

Here is a quick 4-minute video on VIXX's many concepts.

Wins: Every time an artist, band, idol or idol-group wins a music-show trophy, it is simply called a win. As of last year, boy-group Exo has the most wins. They took the crown from their older-sister group (they are from the same company), Girls' Generation, beating them 103 to 100 wins.

Group Positions: All members of each K-Pop boy or girl-group have positions they are in charge of within their group. They can either be a leader, vocalist, dancer, visual, center or face of the group. The positions are given in respect to each member's talent. If a member is a good vocalist, then that will be their position and they will sing more as well as the most challenging singing parts of the songs. There can be more than one member in most positions. Some positions have sub-categories. Continue reading to know more about each position.

Leader: The position of most responsibility in a K-Pop boy or girl-group. Leaders are in charge of looking after all group members, are usually the ones that memorizes and recite speeches, whether it be a thank you speech in an awards show or a description of their new single. Also, if there are conflicts between members, or anyone is acting out in an improper manner, it is the leader's job to keep the peace and all members in line.

The Korean culture gives utmost importance to seniority, so a K-Pop group leader is usually the oldest member of the group since their society deems them the wisest. For example- Leeteuk from Super Junior is the oldest member and the leader of the group.

A member can also be chosen as the leader if they have spent the most time training, even if they aren't the oldest one in the group. This is the case for Jihyo of Twice, who trained for 10 years before debuting. She is the leader, even though Nayeon is actually the oldest. Another example is Suho from EXO. He trained for six years, so he was chosen as leader even though three members were older than him. Two of them left the group so now he is the second oldest.

Another reason why a particular member can be given this position is because he/she is the most musically talented, or the group was created with that one member's talent as the center-point of the group. The example that comes to mind is that of BTS. The CEO of BIG HIT Entertainment, Bang Shi Hyuk, created the famous boy-group BTS (Beyond The Scene) because of group member RM. He saw RM's rapping skills and talent and decided that he should create a boy-group with members that fit RM's Hip-Hop concept.

Lastly, I would like to add that some groups, such as BlackPink, are leaderless. This ends up being the case when all members (and their company, of course) deem it unnecessary to have one person in charge of the group when they are all capable of holding the same amount of responsibility for group tasks. On the other hand, some groups have more than one leader, co-leaders, or one main leader and one vice-leader. This is the case simply because they deem it fit for their group to have more than one leader. For example- The boy-group Up10tion has a leader, Jinhoo, and a vice-leader, Kuhn.

Rapper: The rappers are the members who are in charge of the rapping parts of the group's songs. (#neversawthatcoming, I'm I right?) There are usually two or more people in charge of rapping. They're categorized in the following way.

• Main-Rapper: This member(s) is the best rapper and usually gets the most/hardest rapping parts of the song. For example- BTS' RM, EXO's Chanyeol, Block-B's Zico.

• Lead-Rapper: This member(s) is the second best at rapping and usually gets to rap the parts which are less difficult/fast. For example- BTS's Suga and J-Hope, EXO's Sehun and Kai, Block-B's P.O. and Kyung.

• Sub-Rapper: These members can rap, but they usually also have other strengths such as singing or dancing (or even acting or they are simply really good looking). Because of this, they rap much smaller/less complicated parts than the main and lead rappers. For example- BTS's Jungkook.

• EXTRA- The following rapper categories aren't found in many K-Pop group member profiles, instead the members are categorized as one of the three above. Still, I'm including these because I've heard of them through watching videos which explain the stories of how several K-Pop trainees were put together to create a group with different rapping (as well as singing, and dancing) styles.

* Fast-Rapper: These members are in charge of rapping the fast verses of their songs. For Example- B.A.P's Zelo, Got7's BamBam. Sidenote, it has always impressed me that BamBam was put in charge of the fast rap verses, since he's from Bangkok, Thailand, and Korean isn't his native language. Way to go Bambam!

* Low-Rapper: Rappers from this category have very low timbers, so if the song needs someone to be able to execute low notes, this rapper(s) will be in charge of that part. For Example- SF9's Zu-Ho and/or Chan-Hee, EXO's Chanyeol.

* High-Rapper: When the rap verse is high, this rapper will be in charge of it because he sings in a higher pitch than the other rappers in his group. For Example- Pentagon's E'Dawn (update: he was kicked out of the group by his company Cube Entertainment #CubeIsCanceled), Big Bang's G-Dragon.

Dancer: These members are the most talented dancers in the group. (Who would have thought?)

Main-Dancer: This member(s) is the best dancer of the group. If there are any dance solos, this person will be performing them (most of the time). During training, and even after debut, this person will practice dance more than anything else, because they are the best and need to look the part while on stage. Either way, a main dancer does sing and/or rap. If they weren't capable of doing so, then they wouldn't have been able to make it as an idol. Although their strength lies on dance, they must be able to also sing or rap. For Example- Exo's Kai, and Girls' Generation's Hyoyeon.

Lead-Dancer: This member(s) is the second best at dancing. If two or three people are needed for a dance-only routine, lead dancers will be the ones accompanying the main dancer (most of the time). Lead dancers are usually better at singing or rapping compared to the main dancer, since they don't have to focus as much on dancing.

EXTRA:

Specialized Dancer- Once again, when it comes to official member profiles, members will only be categorized as a Main or Lead Dancers. Still, when it comes to being chosen to be part of a group, the categorization of a members' talents is a little more complicated than that. For Example- In the group VIXX, group member N (that is his stage name, just "N") is the main dancer, while member Ravi is the lead dancer. Ravi is just as good at dancing K-Pop choreographies as N, but because N has an artistic dance background and is also a choreographer. Because of that, Ravi was categorized as the lead dancer.

On the other hand, BTS did what I believe VIXX should have done: both BTS members, J-Hope and Jimin, are categorize as the group's main dancers. This is the case because, again, both members are excellent at dancing K-Pop choreographies, but Jimin has an artistic dance background, while J-Hope is great when it comes to other types of dances and is also a good dance instructor. They each have their on fortes, but they are both equally good in different types of dance, which is why they came to the correct decision of categorizing both members as the group's main dancers.

This is just my humble opinion in the matter. Let me know in the comments if you agree or disagree with me regarding whether both Ravi and N should have been chosen as VIXX's main dancers, or if their current positions are correct.

Visual: This person is considered the best-looking member of the group. Like every other group position, who is the most attractive is decided by the group's company executives. I won't give examples because I don't want to shade any idols, but sometimes fans (including myself) don't agree with the person chosen as the visual of the group. Still, positions aren't changeable (except for the center and the face of the group), at least not as far as I know! Examples of true visuals: Astro's Eun-Woo, Girls' Generation's Yoona, Super Junior's Siwon.

Face of the Group: The "face of the group" position is probably the hardest to explain. Basically, it is the most popular members of the group at any given time. Although group members attend lots of scheduled events together, some might have solo schedules such as acting, appearing in a variety show (which are really popular in Korea), being the face of an ad, singing for a K-drama soundtrack, etc. Whatever the case may be, if a member becomes famous due to their solo endeavors, or simply because they stand out during group events, that person can become more famous than the rest of the members and will then be considered the face of the group. The member that holds this position is either at the center of photoshoots, ads, music video, or choreography routines, or at least in an important spot, because they are the member who is the most famous and can sell the most of whatever it is that they are trying to sell.

Center: This position is given to the member which fits the groups current concept the best. If there is a certain member that is cute, and the group is coming out with a song that has a cute concept, this member will be placed in the middle as a calculated marketing move.

Maknae: This person is the youngest member of a group. When the girl group Red Velvet had only four members, the maknae was Joy. After Yeri joined the group in 2015, being younger than Joy, she became the maknae. Maknae is used for whatever type of group. If a person is the youngest member of their friends group, they can also be a called a maknae.

Honorifics: In Korea, there are honorifics that people call each other depending on their age/gender difference. Here's a break-down of the important ones in the K-Pop world.

Hyung: A boy/man would call this to his older brother, or a man that is older than him (not THAT much older though) but has a close relationship with. In boy-groups, younger members call older members "hyung" or "(insert name), hyung." Hyung can also be a term of endearment, so many times male fans call their favorite older boy-idols, "hyung."

Unnie: A girl/woman would call this to her older sister or a woman that is older than her (not THAT much older though) but has a close relationship with. In girl-groups, younger members call older members "unnie" or "(insert name), unnie." Unnie can also be a term of endearment, so many girl fans call their favorite older girl-idols "unnie."

Oppa: A girl/woman would call this to her older brother or a boy/man that is older than her (not THAT much older though) but has a close relationship with. Girl-idols would call this to male idols that are older than them and have a close relationship with, or older male fans. Oppa can also be a term of endearment, so female fans would call their older idol crushes "oppa."

Noona: A boy/man would call this to his older sister or a girl/woman that is older than him (not THAT much older though) but has a close relationship with. Boy-group members would call older girl idols they are close to, or their older fans, "noona." Noona can also be a term of endearment, so many times male fans call their favorite older girl-idols, "noona."

Bias: A person's favorite member of a particular K-Pop group. For example: My bias in Exo is D.O. and in BTS it is J-Hope.

Bias-Wrecker: The group member that makes you almost forget who your bias is because there is something about them that's distractingly attractive. For example, my Exo bias is D.O., but Baekhyun's vocals and smile are so distracting I sometimes want to make him my bias instead. The same goes for BTS, my bias is J-Hope, but Jungkook's good-looks and angelic voice sometimes steal my heart! Still, those who are loyal to their biases will not let the other members wreck their love and dedication towards their bias, even if it is a #struggle. (Update: I have officially been wrecked by Baekhyun.)

Ultimate-Bias: One's bias when considering all of the idols in the entire K-Pop Industry. For example, my ultimate bias is Super Junior's Kyuhyun because, out of all of the idols, I consider his voice the most beautiful. Also, he is hilarious and super cute! (Update: Exo's Baekhyun wrecked me SO hard, that he even snatched Kyuhyuns crown and is now my ultimate bias. I have never been wrecked this hard, yet, I am smiling. #wrecked #Imokaywithit.)

Fan-Service: An action done by idols in order to please their fans. For example, Boy/girl members might kiss each other on the cheek as dares only to throw a bone at their fans.

Skinship:

Aegyo: Acting cute. Whether it be with your voice, eyes, body movements, phrases, or a combination of it all, aegyo is simply acting cute, usually in order to get something or to make people like you/think that you're cute. Idols do aegyo as fan service, because Most fans love to watch their favorite idols act cute.

Reaction: Reacting (usually over-reacting) to anything during a recorded show. Idols do this to make themselves look good in front of the cameras, to make the show interesting, to make one of their group members stand out and shine, etc.

That is all for now, but I will continue adding more in the future! Terms coming up soon:

Korean Variety Shows: Running Man, Happy Together, We Got Married, and my personal favorite, Idol Room!

Stan:

Netizen:

Ship:

Koreaboo:

K-Pop Trash: