Korean slang profile
이모티콘
imotikon
An expression combining letters, symbols, or similar elements into a picture to convey an emotion or appearance.
An expression combining letters, symbols, or similar elements into a picture to convey an emotion or appearance.
- Expanded form
- Not documented
- Other spellings
- —
- Earliest source found
- Dec 19, 2011
- 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
기쁜 마음을 웃는 이모티콘으로 전했어.
I conveyed my happiness with a smiling emoticon.
02Documented history
- December 19, 2011The appendix to the National Institute of Korean Language’s “요긴하게 쓸 만한 다듬은 말 61개” included the expression and its definition.[1]
03Origin & word formation
The appendix to the National Institute of Korean Language’s “요긴하게 쓸 만한 다듬은 말 61개” lists this expression as a term selected for replacement with clearer Korean and directly explains its meaning. Who first used it and when have not been verified.
Evidence for the origin explanationMedium
Individual entries and definitions in a single official collection were directly checked. Published in 2011, it compiles terms selected for clearer Korean replacements from 2004 through 2011; this does not mean the expressions originated or became popular in 2011. The original announcements were not separately opened, so the publication date was used as the earliest verified evidence date.
04Sources
Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.
- 요긴하게 쓸 만한 다듬은 말 61개 — PDF 123쪽 (국립국어원)Published Dec 19, 2011Original source checked Nov 14, 2026