Korean slang profile

과잠

gwajam

A university or department jacket

A jacket representing a university or academic department.

Expanded form: Not documented
Other spellings: —
Earliest source found: Jan 18, 2012
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
동기들이랑 과잠 맞춰 입고 왔다.
My classmates and I came wearing matching department jackets.
Quoted from a source
학과 단체 동아리 점퍼는 속칭 ‘과잠’으로 불리며[2]
The department group club jumper is commonly referred to as ‘과잠’.
English translation by Julimmal.

02Documented history

January 2012Sisa IN introduced the ‘University Jumper (aka 과잠)’ as a walking student ID.[1]
November 2014The Kyunghyang Shinmun called the department group club jumper the common name ‘과잠’ and wrote that it was so popular that it was used as a school uniform for college students.[2]

03Origin & word formation

Another name for a university jacket. SisaIN in 2012 and Kyunghyang Shinmun in 2014 both use the label. The proposed combination of 과 and 잠바 has not been directly verified in the sources.

Evidence for the origin explanationMedium

Two articles support the meaning, but neither directly verifies how the word is formed.

04Sources

Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.

대학 점퍼, 너는 왜 입니? (시사IN(다음 뉴스 전재))Published Jan 18, 2012Original source checked Nov 5, 2026
학과 점퍼 ‘과잠’의 몰락 “돈 없고… 소속감 못 느껴” 티·점퍼 신청 저조 (경향신문)Published Nov 9, 2014Original source checked Nov 5, 2026