🧩 Language play🧱 Compound word🥹 Cute
Spiciness
NK

🍦얼음보숭이

/eol-eum-bo-sung-i/

A widely known North Korean-style purified word said to mean “ice cream.” In practice, it is better understood as an old or meme-like expression in South Korea rather than a commonly used modern North Korean term.
얼음보숭이 meaning visual explanation
📻 North Korean media📻 North Korean state mediaFirst seen 1981

origin · Source

The word combines ‘eol-eum’ meaning ice with ‘bo-sung-i,’ and became known as part of an effort to replace foreign words like ice cream with native Korean-style terms. It is said to have appeared in a North Korean dictionary in the 1980s and later spread in South Korea as a representative example of North Korean vocabulary. However, it is not generally regarded as a widely settled everyday term in modern North Korea. Today, it functions both as an informational ‘North Korean word for ice cream’ and as a cute-sounding language meme.

ex)

3
  • "They call ice cream eol-eum-bo-sung-i? The word itself sounds so cute."
  • "If eol-eum-bo-sung-i appears in a North Korean vocabulary quiz, it’s basically a classic question."
  • "These days, people know it more as a North Korean-language meme than as a real everyday word."

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