Korean slang profile
지못미
jimotmi
Sorry I couldn't protect you
An expression of regret toward someone or something you could not help or that experienced something unfortunate.
- Expanded form
- 지켜주지 못해 미안해Sorry I couldn't protect you
- Other spellings
- —
- Earliest source found
- Dec 8, 2007
- Documented trend period
- Before 2007~
This is the earliest source we have verified, not the date the term was coined.
01Examples, with English translations
- Example by Julimmal
응원하던 팀이 졌어. 지못미…
The team I was rooting for lost. Sorry I couldn't protect you…
- Quoted from a source
‘지못미’(지켜 주지 못해 미안해의 준말)[1]
‘지못미’ (abbreviation for sorry for not being able to protect you)
English translation by Julimmal.
02Documented history
- December 2007The Dong-A Ilbo shared DC Inside's survey of this year's popular Internet terms and explained the meaning of '지못미' as an abbreviation for 'I'm sorry for not being able to protect you.' It was introduced that it is used together with ‘It is 안습’ in the comment of a photo with a strange expression.[1]
03Origin & word formation
Short for 지켜 주지 못해 미안해, sorry I couldn't protect you. A 2007 Dong-A Ilbo article explicitly gives this explanation. Who first used it has 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.
- 우왕ㅋ굳ㅋ… 지못미… 알쏭달쏭 ??? (동아일보)Published Dec 8, 2007Original source checked Nov 5, 2026