Korean slang profile
탕진잼
tangjinjaem
The joy of small splurges
Finding enjoyment in small, nonessential purchases rather than large-scale spending.
- Expanded form
- 탕진 + 재미The joy of small splurges
- Other spellings
- —
- Earliest source found
- Jan 13, 2017
- 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
월급날엔 탕진잼으로 소소하게 기분 낸다.
On payday, I enjoy a few small splurges.
- Quoted from a source
써서 없앤다는 의미의 탕진과 재미를 뜻하는 잼을 합친 신조어입니다[1]
It is a new word that combines the words waste, meaning to use up and get rid of, and jam, meaning fun.
English translation by Julimmal.
02Documented history
- January 2017SBS reported that amid the recession, as the number of households spending less than 1 million won a month increases, a new word, ‘탕진잼’, which combines ‘waste’ and ‘fun’, has emerged.[1]
- March 2017MBC introduced a new word created by the recession and said that having fun with small waste is called ‘탕진잼’.[2]
03Origin & word formation
Combines 탕진, spending or squandering, with 잼, from 재미, fun. An SBS report from 2017 explicitly gives this structure. Who first used it and when have not been verified.
Evidence for the origin explanationHigh
News coverage explicitly explains the compound, and MBC uses it with the same meaning. When it was first used is unknown.
04Sources
Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.
- 소소한 낭비 ‘탕진잼’…불황 속 새 소비 트랜드 (SBS)Published Jan 13, 2017Original source checked Nov 5, 2026
- 냉파, 가용비, 탕진잼…불황이 만든 신조어들 (MBC)Published Mar 4, 2017Original source checked Nov 5, 2026