In its September 2021 update, the Oxford English Dictionary, “the definitive record of the English language,” added dozens of Korean language terms and revised several of its existing entries, reflecting the global popularity of Korean culture.
The first Korea-related entry in the OED was “Korean”, added in 1933; “kimchi” was added in 1976. Food items feature prominently in the September 2021 update, which includes words like banchan 반찬 (“n. In Korean cookery: a small side dish of vegetables, etc., served along with rice as part of a typical Korean meal.”)
Another category of additions is pop culture slang, like daebak 대박 (“adj. As a general term of approval: excellent, fantastic, great”) and mukbang 먹방 (“n. A video, esp. one that is livestreamed, that features a person eating a large quantity of food and talking to the audience.”)
