Korean slang profile

이생망

isaengmang

This life is a lost cause

An abbreviation expressing self-deprecating resignation that this life is ruined and the future is unlikely to improve.

This is the earliest source we have verified, not the date the term was coined.

01Examples, with English translations

Example by Julimmal
시험을 망치고 이생망이라고 중얼거렸어.
After messing up the exam, I muttered that this life was a lost cause.
Quoted from a source
‘이생망’은 ‘이번 생은 망했다’를 줄인 말이고[2]
‘이생망’ is an abbreviation for ‘This life is ruined.’
English translation by Julimmal.

January 2016Kyunghyang Shinmun: “When asked about the meaning of 이생망, 591 people said, ‘I don’t think my life will get better in the future either.’”[1]
March 2017Dong-A Ilbo: “‘이생망’ is an abbreviation for ‘This life is ruined.’”[2]

Short for “이번 생은 망했다.” The 2017 source from Dong-A Ilbo explicitly gives this explanation. Who first used it and when have not been verified.

Evidence for the origin explanationHigh

The explanation is explicit in the sources, and at least two sources use the same meaning. When it was first used is unknown.

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