**I'll probably be hated for this but I have to say it**

Isn't the term "oppa" supposed to be use as a girl to a guy that she's close to - personally? As in sibling or family close to?

Why is it that I'm seeing girls use the term "oppa" in forums when referring to celebs?

I'm sorry- but my personal opinion is that if you don't know this person, haven't seen what they're like when they're upset, haven't seen them angry - or laugh for hours. You don't get to call them "oppa". It's used too loosely here that it's kinda weird to me. It doesn't seem like a term that should be used to so easily. What celebs show as their public persona, even in movies - as great actors. It isn't what their family and close friends see. I honestly think it should be limited to only people that have seen this person at their best and worse.

It just kinda really irks me to see Joon Ji Hun or Kim Rae Won referred to as "oppa" - if you know that person...more props to you. But if you only see them on a screen or in pictures - don't you think it's best to call them formally, or even by their own name? I understand being in love with a celeb - heck I thought I was going to marry an NSYNC boy back in the day - but that doesn't allow for me to use the term "oppa".

**sorry posted it here because I figured the 20 somethings would understand**

Oppa? Shoot, I'm struggling with "ahjusshi".

I feel your pain.

Oppa is a loose term in Korean.. widely used. I go to club/restaurant/lounge etc, and I call waiters "Oppa" even though they look 10 years younger than me.

Don't get too annoyed with the term doesn't mean much.

yeah I'm kinda annoyed by that toooooo....but they're just immature little kids....we all go through that stage.

yea i agree with you.....
i don't call anyone "oppa" if I dont personally know them or met them for the first time

i only get annoyed by the girls who try to be cute when they say it.

Along with acting dumb, saying "AWWWWWWwwwwwwwwwwwwww realllllllllllllllly?" "OMG WHY!?" "I dont think its fair" etc. etc.

Why do girls do this? Act dumb and innocent? Guy's act macho and all alpha, girls are supposed to look dumb and beta? Revolting.

I think fan girls spend too much time starting at YouTube video's and drooling over posters and daydreaming about their "hubby" rain, se7en, whoever, that maybe they're delutional and think they're childhood friends?

Only people allowed to call me "oppa" is my younger sister and my cousins.... anybody else I don't acknowledge. LOL

Its because they spend 516351835816314+ hours staring at the celeb photos and they have nothing better to do

you do realize that 'oppa' is a common term of respect? koreans don't limit the use of 'oppa' along with 'unnie/eemo' and etc to only those they are close with.

In Japan they call Bae Yong Jun, Yon Sama. It's like equivalent to -nim is korean. Which I think is too far fetched, shrug.

It'll be nice if people called men by their names, like Bae Yong Jun Shi, Ji Jihoon shi, Se7en shi. Instead of oppa, because they hardly now the person in real life, just their imagination.


Yeah it is, but when it somes to familiarity not really. Oppa is a shortened version of older brother, which is Oraboni. No one uses Oraboni (except in north korea) anymore, but it really means older brother or sometimes older cousins. Or the person has to feel close enough to be like an older brother. It's more polite to say ____-shi to a person you don't know well.

INTRUDER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!

Don't post here until you turn 20.

<----- * waiting for her to call me "oppa". *

But I guess that's a much better chance that she'll call me "ahjusshi". Or she'll call the police.

Lol - how old are you to be caled "ahjusshi"?

*Almost* (but not quite) old enough to be her father.

Is it the equivalent of "Bro"? If so, Americans use that term VERY loosely.

no - kinda like bro, but someone that you really do consider as close as family. It's kinda takes bro up one or two levels.

Oppa (female to older male) and Hyung (male to older male) used to be used more intimately within family or friends circles, but in the past several years has been "commercialized" and is now used rather loosely and generally, although typically you wouldn't use this with someone you just met.

for me, i think that word should be used by koreans. period.
i find using the word 'oppa' by other races so loosely just takes the real definition of the word away.
i don't understand how everyone/anyone can call some other guy that.
i respect if you're korean and you call other older koreans that. but if you aren't, don't use it because it's just so poser-like. just stick to your culture and that's it.
i find it absolutely irking when some random girl just call someone else that.
whether it should be used among koreans and their celebrities is the koreans' own problem.
i'm just speaking from a non-korean viewpoint and how it irks me to hear it used by non-koreans.
but yet again, that's just my viewpoint and i don't really care that much because it doesn't affect me and my immediate friends don't do that.

word.

YEah. It is a bit weird. I would rather call the person with a -ssi/shi beside his name.

I thought oppa was also used by girls to flirt with their boyfriends?

i agree..it's completely irking. just stick to your own vocab...

I agree with both of you to a point. No, I'm no Korean - I don't use the word Oppa with anyone right now.

BUT with that being said. If you are a person learning the language/culture. You live outside of Korea but spend a great deal of time with people from the Korean culture - then the use of the word by an outsider, directed towards their group of friends (if they are Korean) is okay.

i think that's a pretty narrow view.
i'm not japanese, but i find it really annoying when people are like, "that's so kawaii" or "what a baka" or something. but i can't tell them they can't use the words.

for the record, most of the people who say "oppa" that annoyed me were korean-american girls...at yonsei...talking to korean-american guys...using that uber-cutesy voice...
forbidding non-koreans from using the word, won't stop annoying korean girls from using it...

(and in korea ppl that are trying to sell you stuff will call you oppa/unni/etc regardless of your relationship and the fact that they are wayyyy older than you are)

that's part of what I was going to say. Not all of us are random. I see it too, and try not to go there. A lot of my friends are Korean--some of them I've known years. I'm not Korean, but most do call me unnie or noona...and this is by their own choice. The ones I'm closest to call me _____ (my name) unnie-- the namdongsaeng deul (gasoo or non-gasoo) refer to me the same way. And yes, I am involved in Korean culture, and expect to be more so in the future. In turn, I address Korean people who are older than me with respect. I call people oppa and unnie too if I know them (otherwise it's full name-shi ro their title). No-one has ever told me not to do it.

I think similar things must happen with people of one culture involved in another culture, although I've never really heard anyone saying 'dai guh' (etc) in a 'cute' whiny voice.

I'm guilty of this.

I use this every time I feel I can use it. But never tried it on my fave celebs though. Now, that's so weird. But I'm guilty in a way I use this as much as I can.

So it's wrong?

even though I am not korean, one of my long-time highschool buddies told me to call him oppa~
I dont really know how to say it
and I dont really wanna embarrass myself
so I just call him that thru txtmsg and msn.. but whenever we go out, I just call him by the name~~~

Oppa is the funniest word ever. Hahaha...not to be mean or something...

I think it's because of the fan girls. "Minwoo Oppa!" "Hwanee Oppa!" "Jihoon Oppa!"
Haha it's so annoying that it's funny.

But I do think it's sweet when it's used between SIBLINGS and COUSINS...or some close guy friend who you aren't obsessing about.

I am not Korean, but I thought "oppa" is an equivalent of "anh" (term you address to a man older than you, like big brother kind of thing regardless of relationship) in Vietnamese. I kind of agree with what you said about the familiarity, but I don't understand why you would get annoyed by the way people refer to their favorite actors. I'm sure if those actors have been part of their lives, and if they feel intimate enough, they can call their favorite actors however they wish to.

You are guilty of posting in a 20+ forum.



INTRUDER ALERT!!!

edward~~~~
do you check EVERYBODY that posts here?? XDXD

Nah! Only "suspicious" people. I have my hands full in the Korean Music forum.

oh.. every time i see you posting that...
i've kept quiet until now, 'cause i see it almost in every thread~

does soompi have this "canned message" thing that you can just do those INTRUDER ALERT automatically? XD

It's kinda like "Anh" but even then - I don't use Anh to people I don't know. I understand the point of knowing a celeb your whole life and feeling like you know them - but Oppa is even more intimate then Anh. Whereas in Vietnamese Anh can be used to the guy serving you food in resturants, to my understanding you have to earn the right to call someone "Oppa".

IE: I've seen in movies (and this is only movies) where there are girls that call guys "oppa" and guys will usually scream - you have no right to call me "oppa" . But in Vietnamese - I've never seen that happen.

I find it kinda fake. esp. since my sis uses it everyday on her idols.

its like, the other fans use it, so like why not?

at least thats her mentality....

I'm annoyed by the term 'oppa' in general. I can't stand it when a Korean girl younger than me addresses me in that way. It's just discomforting and awkward for some reason. I can't get the meaning 'brother' out of my head when I think of the word 'oppa.' It's just not compatible with me.

I find it weird, but it may also be because I'm not korean....
Fangirls do it all the time to boybands
shrugs...

Unfortunately no. We have to "do our researches" to catch those intruders. $2.99 is not easy to earn.



New users should introduce themselves in this pinned thread:

http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=140151

I bet you are a millionaire by now ~

*shall stop convoing >.<*

Would you prefer to be called "Ah-Juh-Si"??

-----------------

So funny. I am not sure why this "Oppa" becoming such a significant word. It really is used very loosely in Korea, and often, if I am close to some people don't address "Uhnni" or "Oppa" to older folks, they get irritated by me for not addressing them in such a intimate term.

Probably in America, everyone is so used to be called by their names, they find it weird to be called "Oppa".

Don't worry folks, later you have to deal with "Ah-Juh-Si" and "Ah-Joom-Mah"... Just like me dealing w/ that right now...

How about just being called by name? I never liked Korean formalities anyway.

If you are in US, sure, I never call anyone by Oppa other than my own. If you are in Korea, just prepare to be called "Oppa" or "Ah-Juh-Si"

Unless you are friends in same age group or you are talking to really older people than you, you will never get called by name.

I'm in Canada. I know what's it like in Korea. I've been there about three times and don't wish to visit that place ever again. I also don't know any Koreans in higher or lower age brackets, thankfully. Even if I did, I'd discourage them from calling me by that dreadful Korean term.

what is so frustrating about it
it's out of respect
well for me it is
i mean .. i call yesung from suju "oppa" ... cause well he's older than me
and i'm his fan .. and in my case, it's also respect
i'm not going to go into his cyworld and be like "yesungssi" ... i'm not his friend i'm younger than he is
the same with other celebs
yeah for some it might be the over obsessiveness
but some people do it out of respect

From the Dramabeans website:

oppa :: “Older brother,” used by a girl to an older male. When used between people who are not related, can carry a romantic connotation — many girls call their boyfriends oppa, a process I used to find vaguely creepy as I have many blood oppas (brothers and cousins), but have since become used to. Many times a girl who starts calling a guy oppa may like him or be saying that as an expression of her interest. Not always, of course. But a girl who does NOT like an older unrelated male would likely call him something else, such as sunbae or his full name.

oppa is widely used in korea anyways.
gasoos prefer it.

i remember reading an old flytothesky interview (told you it was old, ftts is not really that big anymore)
and they prefer it when fans call them "brian oppa", "hwanhee oppa"
and they find it rude when fans just say their first names.


fans use it to show their adoration & respect to their fave celebs.
they feel "close" to them by keeping up with their news, media etc.

i think adding sshi to someones name should be used with your peers whom you're not too close with, or strangers whom you're unsure of their seniority...

i live in england and no one calls me oppa so am I the fortunate one or am I missing out? lol xD I wish some one will call me oppa

I remember part of an interview with Shinhwa a while back--Minwoo was talking about a huge group of obviously younger girls at one of their concerts, and he said they were screaming his first name the whole concert, and at one of the talk breaks, he said something like, 'please don't use ban mal'. There are probably some people who are used to it, and don't really care, but I'm sure there are others who do think it's rude.