[Korean Culture & Language] 텐션, 인싸, 갑분싸



Koreans call someone who is cheerful and bright “텐션이 좋다”. ‘텐션’ means ‘tension,’ and ‘좋다’ means ‘good’. This phrase is used to describe a person. How could someone’s ‘tension‘ be good?

The word 텐션 comes from English word “tension,” but it has a totally different meaning in Korean. Tension can mean ‘excitement’ or ‘cheerful’.

When you introduce someone cheerful, you can say “(NAME)은/는 텐션이 좋아” or “(NAME)은텐션이 최고야!”. The ones with good ‘텐션’ are usually popular and always invited to parties.


Same goes for ‘인싸’. The word ‘인싸’ comes from English word “Insider”. According to Cambridge dictionary (INSIDER | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary), insider means someone who is an accepted member of a group and who therefore has special or secret knowledge or influence. But the closest word for ‘인싸’ in English would be ‘popular,’ because both popular people and 인싸 are accepted by many groups of people and have a big influence on them.




갑분싸 is a word that explains the opposite. The closest English phrase we could use is ‘awkward silence’. It’s an abbreviation of “갑자기 분위기가 싸해졌다”.

갑자기 = suddenly

분위기가 = the atmosphere/mood (it)

싸해졌다 = went south (got awkward)

This expression became so popular in 2018 that there was a famous sketch in a comedy show titled “갑분싸”.

When someone is the life of the party, you can tell them “텐션이 좋으시네요”or call them an “인싸”. On the other hand, when someone does a terrible joke and it kills the mood, you can say “아… 갑분싸!”



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