Konglish is English-based vocabulary that Koreans use with a meaning, form or combination that English speakers wouldn’t recognize. 핸드폰 (haendeupon) looks like “hand phone” but simply means a cell phone, and 서비스 (seobiseu, “service”) in a restaurant usually means something you get for free.
These words are real Korean, listed in Korean dictionaries, not slang mistakes. Some were put together in Korea from English parts, some kept an older English meaning, and some were shortened until the English is hard to see. Below is a cheat sheet of 15 common ones, each checked against the National Institute of Korean Language (NIKL) dictionaries, then a short guide to why English words look the way they do in Hangul.
The cheat sheet
| Korean | Romanization | Looks like | What it means in Korean |
|---|---|---|---|
| 핸드폰 | haendeupon | hand phone | cell phone (also 휴대폰 hyudaepon) |
| 아이쇼핑 | aisyoping | eye shopping | window shopping: looking without buying |
| 파이팅 / 화이팅 | paiting / hwaiting | fighting | “Go! You can do it!”, a cheer |
| 서비스 | seobiseu | service | also a freebie or discount from a shop |
| 원룸 | wollum | one room | studio apartment |
| 오피스텔 | opiseutel | office + hotel | a building unit used as an office, a home or both |
| 셀카 | selka | self camera | selfie |
| 노트북 | noteubuk | notebook | laptop computer |
| 미팅 | miting | meeting | group blind date, mostly among students |
| 스킨십 | seukinsip | skinship | affectionate physical contact |
| 개그맨 | gaegeumaen | gagman | comedian |
| 커닝 | keoning | cunning | cheating on a test |
| 오버 | obeo | over | overdoing it, overreacting (오버하다 obeohada) |
| 사이다 | saida | cider | lemon-lime soda; also a satisfying, “refreshing” moment |
| 아르바이트 | areubaiteu | (German Arbeit) | part-time job, often shortened to 알바 alba |
Notes on the tricky ones
서비스: free, not just “service”
The dictionary lists the ordinary meaning (help, customer service), and then a separate sense: a discount or an extra thrown in by a business. If a server puts a dish on your table and says 서비스예요 (seobiseu-yeyo), it’s on the house. 서비스 안주 (seobiseu anju) is a free bar snack.
파이팅 vs 화이팅
The standard spelling is 파이팅, following the rule that English f becomes ㅍ. 화이팅 is everywhere on signs and in speech, and NIKL’s open dictionary lists it while noting that the standard form is 파이팅. Either way, it means “go for it,” not “let’s fight.”
미팅 and 원룸
미팅 in the standard dictionary is a social gathering where a group of male and female students meet, usually to pair up. A work meeting is more often 회의 (hoeui). A 원룸 is a single room that serves as bedroom, living room and kitchen.
사이다
The soda meaning is old. The newer meaning is figurative: a person, line or plot twist that clears up a frustrating situation, like a cold fizzy drink. NIKL’s 우리말샘 records it, along with phrases like 사이다 엔딩 (saida ending), a satisfying ending.
오버 and 커닝
In speech you’ll often hear 오바 (oba) and 컨닝 (keonning), but the dictionary spellings are 오버 and 커닝. 오버하지 마 (obeohaji ma) means “don’t overdo it” or “don’t be so dramatic.”
To practice everyday words in themed lists, try the Korean vocabulary lists.
Why loanwords look the way they do in Hangul
Korean borrows a lot of English, and NIKL’s Loanword Orthography (외래어 표기법, oeraeeo pyogibeop) sets one standard spelling for each word. A few rules explain most of what you’ll see.
1. Extra ㅡ vowels. Korean doesn’t stack consonants the way English does, so a consonant with no vowel after it usually gets ㅡ (eu) to make its own syllable. The one-syllable word strike becomes five syllables: 스트라이크 (seu-teu-ra-i-keu). The same thing happens in 아르바이트 and 노트북.
2. f becomes ㅍ. Korean has no f sound, so the standard spelling uses ㅍ: 커피 (keopi, coffee), 파일 (pail, file), 파이팅. The casual 화이팅 uses ㅎ instead, which is why it isn’t the standard form.
3. r and l both become ㄹ. Korean has one letter for both. 라디오 (radio) starts with ㄹ for r. An l between vowels is written with two ㄹ, one closing the first syllable and one starting the next: 텔레비전 (tellebijeon, television), 슬라이드 (seullaideu, slide).
4. No tense consonants for plain sounds. The rules say not to write stop sounds with the tense letters ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, even when people hear them that way. So it’s 카페 (kape), not 까페, and 바나나 (banana) with a plain ㅂ.
5. Only seven final consonants. At the end of a syllable, loanwords use only ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ. A final t is written ㅅ: 로봇 (robot).
6. No ㅈ or ㅊ with ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ. Korean doesn’t tell 주 and 쥬 apart in speech, so the standard spellings drop the extra y sound:
쥬스 jyuseu
텔레비젼 tellebijyeon
쵸콜릿 chyokollit
주스 juseu = juice
텔레비전 tellebijeon = television
초콜릿 chokollit = chocolate
You’ll still see 쥬스 on menus and shop signs. NIKL’s open dictionary lists it and points to 주스 as the standard form. For reading, both are fine; for writing an essay or a test, use the standard one.
To guess a loanword, read the Hangul slowly and say it with an English accent in mind. 스트라이크 said fast is close to "strike." Our Korean romanizer shows the letter-by-letter RR form, which helps you see where the extra ㅡ vowels went.
Exceptions to keep in mind
- Not every English-looking word is Konglish. 커피, 바나나 and 라디오 mean exactly what they look like. The cheat sheet words are the ones that change meaning.
- Some “English” is German or French. 아르바이트 is from German Arbeit (work), and 카페 follows French café.
- Romanization isn’t the English word. RR spells the Hangul, so 노트북 is noteubuk, not notebook. Our Revised Romanization guide explains why.
Sources: National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원), Standard Korean Language Dictionary (표준국어대사전) and 우리말샘 entries for each word listed; NIKL, Loanword Orthography (외래어 표기법, Ministry of Education notice 1986, with later revisions).
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