Korean slang profile
노답
nodap
Hopeless
A frustrating situation with no apparent solution, or a person described that way.
Caution: It can be insulting when used about a person.
- Expanded form
- no + 답Hopeless
- Other spellings
- —
- Earliest source found
- Feb 18, 2015
- Documented trend period
- Around 2015~
This is the earliest source we have verified, not the date the term was coined.
01Examples, with English translations
- Example by Julimmal
이 상황은 노답이다.
This situation is hopeless.
- Quoted from a source
너무 식상하고 재미가 없을 때는 ‘노답(답이 없다)’이라는 표현을 쓰기도 한다.[1]
When things get too boring and uninteresting, the expression ‘노답 (no answer)’ is used.
English translation by Julimmal.
02Documented history
- February 2015In an article introducing the Lunar New Year abbreviation, the Kyunghyang Shinmun introduced ‘노답 (no answer)’ as an expression used when something is too boring and uninteresting.[1]
03Origin & word formation
Kyunghyang Shinmun explains it as a combination of the English “no” and 답, meaning answer, expressing that there is no answer. Who first used it and when have not been verified.
Evidence for the origin explanationMedium
The source explicitly gives 답이 없다 as the expansion. However, it describes usage for something unentertaining, which differs somewhat from the now-common meaning of having no solution.
04Sources
Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.
- 손주·조카와 대화하려면 알아두세요 (경향신문)Published Feb 18, 2015Original source checked Nov 5, 2026