[Korean Culture & Language] 확찐자



Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers!


It's normal to use humor as a coping tool when fighting to get through challenging situations. As I wrote in my last article, laughter can provide a significant mental health buffer, assisting in the development of resilience and courage.

COVID-19 has not only been affecting people’s physical health but also mental health. It’s become more commonplace to resort to humor to cope with the pandemic. Below is a meme that has become extremely popular since the pandemic:

[잠시 웃어요①] '마가장, 확찐자' 한국의 해학, 코로나19에 지지 않는다 | 이뉴스데일리 (enewsdaily.co.kr)

ⓒ 온라인 커뮤니티

Can you guess why this became popular, just by looking at the image?

It reads: 

Title: “Person who suddenly gained weight”
We should all be careful. Because my neighbor was too scared of COVID-19, she stayed home, ate, and didn’t work out. She was confirmed to be the “person who suddenly gained weight.”

The last sentence reads: 

Patients’ movements:
Table -> Couch -> Fridge -> Couch -> Table -> Bed -> Fridge -> Bed

In Korea, a confirmed case of COVID-19 is called “확진자”.
“확진자” and “확찐자,” sounds the same, but “확찐자” means a “person who suddenly gained weight”. The word “확찐자,” however, didn’t even exist before the pandemic. 

So if you send your friend a text and say “나 확찐자야ㅠㅠ,” they would automatically think that you’re a confirmed case of COVID-19. While they’re worried about you, you can send this meme saying “살이 확 찐자(Someone who suddenly gained weight)” at the bottom. They will be annoyed but laugh for sure.

Many other slang words were created due to COVID-19 pandemic, including 작아격리 and 질량관리본부. I’ll cover these in my next article!

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