Korean slang profile
반위
banwi
A warning to an online contact who has agreed to use informal speech that insufficient interaction is making the relationship difficult to maintain.
A warning to an online contact who has agreed to use informal speech that insufficient interaction is making the relationship difficult to maintain.
- Expanded form
- Not documented
- Other spellings
- —
- Earliest source found
- May 18, 2021
- Documented trend period
- Not verified
This is the earliest source we have verified, not the date the term was coined.
01Examples, with English translations
- Example by Julimmal
소통이 뜸해져서 반위 공지를 받았어.
I received a 반위 notice because we hadn’t been interacting much.
02Documented history
03Origin & word formation
뉴스1 explains 반위 as ‘반박모드 위기’, while 서울경제 gives ‘반말 모드 박탈 위기’. Both use it for a warning received when interaction is insufficient in an agreed informal-speech relationship. Which expanded form is correct, who first used it, and when could not be established.
Evidence for the origin explanationLow
Usage in the two articles’ bodies is similar, but their expanded forms differ, so no definitive original form is asserted.
04Sources
Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.
- [뭐하고놀Z] 유튜브에서 '평생 친구' 찾는 10대들..“구알완! 반튀 안해요” (뉴스1)Published May 18, 2021Original source checked Nov 13, 2026
- [신조어 사전] 반신, 반말 모드 신청 줄임말 (서울경제)Published May 30, 2021Original source checked Nov 13, 2026