When entering the world of K-Pop, it feels like everyone is speaking another language. Terminology gets thrown around, and using context clues isn’t always the easiest way to figure out what the terms mean. With a majority of fandom spaces taking place online, it makes it that much harder to define fandom vocabulary. This is because a lot of K-Pop terminology is actually acronyms. From group names to year end award ceremonies, these acronyms have become a common part of K-Pop stans’ vocabulary. 

End-of-the-Year Award Shows 

These can be sorted into two categories; the first being award names and the other being the award shows themselves.

Award Show Names

Every year, more award shows are added to the end-of-the-year awards season craziness. However, these are the main shows that happen every year.

MAMA: Mnet Asian Music Awards

MMA: MelOn Music Awards

GDA: Golden Disc Awards

AAA: Asian Artist Awards 

SMA: Seoul Music Awards

KMA: Korean Music Awards

KPMA: Korean Popular Music Awards

Awards

While each award show has a different name, the awards they give out share the same names. Although most awards will be referred to by their full names, these four awards are almost always discussed by their acronyms. 

SOTY: Song of The Year

AOTY: Artist of The Year or Album of The Year

ROTY: Rookie of The Year

Buying and Selling

When buying K-Pop merch online, there are a handful of acronyms thrown around to help dictate the exchange of goods. It shows if they are buying, selling, or trading their items. Here are the main ones to look out for: 

WTB: Want to Buy

LTB: Looking to Buy

WTS: Want to Sell

LTS: Looking to Sell 

WTT: Looking to Trade

WWT: World Wide Trade

WWS: World Wide shipping

Depending on the region of the buyer or seller, here are some other acronyms that may pop up on a listing:

LOC: Location. This is usually where the buyer is located and where they would be willing to ship. 

MOP: Method of Payment

MOD: Method of Delivery

Social Media Shorthand 

Due to the limited nature of character counts, here are some acronyms that fans may stumble across on social sites. These are usually seen in feeds but can appear in bios as well. 

LRT: Last Retweet. This usually denotes a tweet that is in connection to the latest retweet on your account. Some people are uncomfortable with quote retweets so this allows for people to interact with content while giving space to the original poster.

FUB Free: Follow Unfollow Block Free. This is usually in bios of people who are not really focused on their follower count and want people to interact with the ways they see fit. 

CC: Curious Cat. It’s a question asking platform that has the ability to send anonymous messages. It is often a place used to spew hate at account owners. 

DNI: Do Not Interact. This is usually followed with an age range. With platforms having such a vast array of ages, this is a way for people to tailor their experience and to inform people if they are under or over a certain age to not follow or interact with their content. 

Bonus: Group Names That Are Actually Acronyms

Everyone knows BTS is an acronym for either Beyond the Scene or the Korean translation of Bulletproof Boy Scouts, but did you know many of your favorite groups' names are actually acronyms on their own? Here are some of the good, the bad, and the downright ridiculous acronyms that K-Pop companies have made for groups. 

TEEN TOP

Teenager Emoboy Emotion Next generation Talent Object Praise

BTOB

Born To Beat

UP10TION

Unbelievable Perfect 10 members Teenagers Idol Open Now

BAP

Best Absolute Perfect

2NE1

New Evolution of the 21st Century

NU’EST

New Establish Style Tempo

VIXX

Voice, Visual, Value in Excelsis

CLC

CrystaL Clear

EXID

Exceed in Dreaming

DIA

Do it Amazing

Final Thoughts

While not all of the acronyms are ridiculous, some of them make you question the point behind them. Once you catch on to the more common ones as new ones emerge, they will be a piece of cake. Are there any that we missed? Tweet us @KrazeMagazine on Twitter and let us know.