[Korean Culture & Language] Korean Portmanteau




Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers!


Brunch, Romcom, and Emoticon are some good examples of portmanteaus. 

Brunch – breakfast + lunch
Romcom – Romance + comedy
Emoticon – emotion + icon

A portmanteau is a new word created by combining two words and their meanings.
Do portmanteaus exist in Korea? Matter of fact, Koreans love them!

One of the most popular online broadcasts in Korea is ‘먹방’. It is an audiovisual broadcast where the host consumes various amounts of food while talking with the audience. 

The word “먹방” is a combination of “먹는(eating)” and “방송(show/broadcast)”. As the number of adults who live alone rises, it has become popular. Since many people are eating alone these days, they try to forget their loneliness by watching others eat. Some people even get vicarious satisfaction from watching others eat. 

However, some think “먹방” is “에바”.
“에바” is a combination of 에러(error) and 오바(over). Literally translated, it means “there’s too much error”. But it simply means “over the top”.
You can use this word when something is ridiculous.


For example:

1) “Why would someone watch others eat mealworms? 먹방은 에바야”

2) “We just left the building, and it started raining. 에바야!”

3) “We were supposed to meet at 5 pm. It’s 5 pm now, and you just left? 에바야!”


There are many Korean portmanteaus. I’ll cover the portmanteaus related to dating in my next article. If you’re interested in them, please keep reading!

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