Korean slang profile
치맥
chimaek
Fried chicken and beer
The combination of eating chicken and drinking beer together.
- Expanded form
- 치킨 + 맥주Fried chicken and beer
- Other spellings
- —
- Earliest source found
- Jun 22, 2010
- 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
비 오는 날엔 치맥이지.
A rainy day calls for chicken and beer.
- Quoted from a source
치맥’은 치킨과 맥주의 줄임말[2]
‘치맥’ is an abbreviation for chicken and beer.
English translation by Julimmal.
02Documented history
- June 2010Health Chosun: “What kind of healthy cheering snack can replace ‘치맥 (chicken and beer)’?”[1]
- May 2012In an article about whole chicken, the Hankyoreh explained that ‘치맥’ is an abbreviation for chicken and beer, and wrote that it gained explosive popularity during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.[2]
03Origin & word formation
Combines 치킨, chicken, with 맥주, beer. A 2012 Hankyoreh article explicitly gives this explanation. Who first used it and when have not been verified.
Evidence for the origin explanationHigh
The article explicitly explains the term. When it was first used is unknown.
04Sources
Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.
- 새벽 관전 야식, 치맥 대신 ‘토마토·두부’먹어야 (헬스조선)Published Jun 22, 2010Original source checked Nov 5, 2026
- 통닭의 쾌재 “내 다시 전성기가 돌아올 줄 알았지” (한겨레(네이트 뉴스 전재))Published May 23, 2012Original source checked Nov 5, 2026