A.W.W. [ GANGURO ]

pronounced: gang-goo-roh

Defined by:

1. An alternative fashion trend of blonde or orange hair and tanned skin among young Japanese women. 2. The term is a portmanteau of the Japanese word gangankuro "ガンガン黒", meaning extremely dark, and guro "グロ", meaning grotesque, and the word ganguro translates to "blackface" or "charbroiled face", meaning heavily-sunburned face.

Examples:

Oh my...your girlfriend is a ganguro...

Can we please dress up as ganguros for Halloween!





The Ganguro fashion scene is quite intense. Orange clown make-up and bright neon hair has never looked so terrifying. I wonder what it's like taking all that off at the end of the night??? Young teenage women take on this look in rebellion to traditional Japanese society. You can find many Ganguro's in Tokyo's Shibuya and Ikebukuro districts. There are even guy version of Ganguros! I think they're called "center guys?" O.o

A.W.W. [ AEGYO ]

pronounced: ag-yeoh

Defined by Urban Dictionary.Com:

1. A korean word that derives from the Chinese characters "love (ae)" and "beautiful (gyo)". 2. generally attributed to women who can charm men and elders through a careful balance of sweetness, cuteness, poutiness, modesty, thoughtfulness, and submissiveness.

Examples:

Eeek! I fall prey to Minho's aegyo!

Her aegyo gives me goosebumps.





HUGE thing in Korea. Honestly, it can get over the top very quick. I really hope there are not guys out there who really really enjoy this kind of "adorableness." Actually, I've tried some of this, not to the extremes...I've gotten varied results. The best way to explain aegyo is to show you an example of it. There are a lot of female and male examples of aegyo, SNSD's Sunny is notorious for aegyo that gives you goosebumps or aegyo that makes you want to hit her over the head.

A.W.W. [ NETIZEN ]

pronounced: net-ee-zen

Defined by Urban Dictionary.Com:

1. This word is a variant on citizen. 2. A person who interacts with others on the internet.







Examples:

Netizens go to far when it comes to celebrity privacy.

I am very popular...among netizens.

I guess I would consider myself a netizen...though I only think a true netizen is someone who is on the borderline obsessive or stalker-ish. ^-^; I never heard this term before getting exposed to a lot of Korean stuff, so I believe it's mostly used in the Korean entertainment industry. Netizens have the power to support or ruin idols, create scandals and dig deeper and deeper into the private lives of idols.

A.W.W. [ ULZZANG ]

pronounced: uhl-jang

Defined by Urban Dictionary.Com:

1. A Korean term that translates to "best face" or "good looking." 2. Eyes being the main focus and concept of the look. They usually use lots of products to make their eyes very large, such as eyelid glue, Korean cosmetic circle lenses, eyeliner, long fake eyelashes, etc. They also usually have fair skin, a small nose and thin small lips, just like anime characters. 3. They use a lot of editing websites such as Photoshop and Haduri to edit their pictures to make them even more prettier.

Examples:

Oooh, I like your selca! That must be your ulzzang face!

It predominates in Korea, but there's also these types of photos in Japan, China and the US! Kind of like how we have the "duck-face" fad, Korea's is the "ulzzang" face. While most people are creeped out by such large and cartoon-like eyes, there are some who find them incredibly cute and attractive~~~ All in all, the ulzzang look has become more a specific style or fashion statement.

A.W.W. [ OMO ]

pronounced: oh-mo

Defined by Urban Dictionary.Com:

1. Meaning Oh My! Usually used by those who speak the Korean language or wannabe Koreans who watch Kdramas all day.

Examples:

Omo! You scared me!

Omo! That guy punched that kitten!




Kinda like saying O-M-G or Oh my Gosh, just say Omo! Shortens it considerdably and it's actually a really cool sounding non-word. There were some other definitions that were also listed on Urban Dictionary that were really funny. Like: The odd man out (unfavorable to men) or Oh My Oprah! Generally, I've only heard it in dramas and some Korean reality shows. When someone wants to do slapstick or be over dramatic you just add a bunch of "OMOS!"

A.W.W. [Sel-ca]

Welcome to the first installment of a new segment called Asian Word of the Week (or AWW)!!! Yay!!! This was born from the idea that a lot of words used in Asian countries don't always transfer over into the Americas. So in these segments I want to clarify vocabulary, phrases, ideas etc. so that everyone can be on the same page. I hope this segment will change and morph and into something that is valuable and entertaining.

Without further ado...the first AWW Vocab is:

[ SELCA ]
pronounced: sell-caw

Defined by Urban Dictionary.Com:

1. A Self-Cam picture. ie a picture of yourself taken by yourself. Not professionally. 2. A collection of pictures of oneself.

examples:

I have a lot of selca pics because i'm a camwhore.






Asians love love LOVE talking photos and this has bred a whole culture around taking pictures. Taking cute pictures of yourself is huge! Put together the two English words, SELF and CAPTURE and you get SELCA (I've also seen SELKA). Idols and non-idols have tons of selcas, all ranging from scary to funny to down right adorable...believe it or not, it is considered a fan service to loyal followers.

Generally, selcas involve just the person in the picture; using one hand to hold out the camera and take the picture. Nowadays I've been seeing some taken with a little bit of help. I have also started seeing more and more selcas posted in series style. Look at some examples below:

Hongki FTIsland

Qri T-Ara

Narsha BEG

Actress Park Min Young

Actor Lee Minho