Eggbun Newsletter!

🍠 고구마&사이다?, Webtoon, Sping blossom 🌸

Eggbun Education
March 25, 2024

🍠 고구마 & 사이다 as internet slangs🥤

Have you ever heard the words ‘고구마’ or ‘사이다’ on the internet or in Korean entertainment?

고구마 and 사이다 literally mean 'sweet potato' and 'soda' as food products, but in memes, they have a richer meaning.

🍠 고구마 Sweet potato

The meaning of sweet potato as an internet slang refers to a frustrating situation. Let's think about when we eat steamed sweet potatoes for a moment.

When you eat steamed sweet potatoes without anything to drink, usually you feel a sensation of your throat being blocked and frustration. This originated from here, and when webtoons, comics, movies, dramas, etc., unfold very slowly or strangely, or when you feel frustrated with the actions of the main characters, and when there are unresolved plot points or subplots, or when things don't make sense, people tend to call it '고구마'.

one meme of 고구마

The term '고구마' began to be used around 2015 with this meaning, and although the original text where it was first used cannot be found, someone felt frustrated on an internet community and used expressions like "고구마 백(100) 개 먹은 기분 (feels like I've eaten 100 sweet potatoes)". Many people empathized with this expression and started using it, gradually becoming widespread as internet slang.

🥤 사이다 Soda

Now, shall we also find out what ‘사이다(soda, Sprite)’ means? Some people who realize the meaning of ‘고구마’ might have a rough idea of what 사이다 is used for. As an internet slang, 사이다 is used when a frustrating situation is resolved refreshingly, or when it is resolved at all. Originally, it referred to the narrative style of events in creative works such as comics, dramas, or novels, but now it is widely used in real-life situations as well.

When you drink carbonated drinks like 사이다 when you feel uncomfortable or frustrated, you feel refreshed and cool as if the drink is clearing your throat. Because of such feelings, any situation that feels refreshing and satisfying is called '사이다'.

In the K-drama <원더우먼(One the Woman)>, a child drinks 사이다 at the moment a frustrating situation is resolved in a refreshing.

The origin of the word 사이다 came about in 2015 as a counter concept to the trend of using 고구마 as slang. Comments like "와, 사이다 마시는 기분이야(Wow~ feels like drinking cider)" started as a way to oppose that trend, and eventually, even without verbs like '마시다(to drink)', just saying '사이다' became a word to describe such refreshing feelings.

Now that you've learned that 고구마 and 사이다 are opposite concepts through this post, you'll probably understand expressions like 고구마 and 사이다 in SNS or internet community comments better.

Wishing you joyful discoveries in your Korean language journey!