What Does This Mean?
Korean internet slang, a derogatory label for someone who misses the joking mood of a conversation and reacts seriously on their own. It is built from 진지 (serious) plus the suffix 충 (蟲, bug or insect), which belittles the person by comparing them to vermin. The label is an insult used by people mocking a serious reaction; it is not a neutral description and is not endorsed here.
EXPLAINER
SBS 뉴스 · original source ↗
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REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
"농담에 정색하고 설명을 시작하자 누군가 진지충이라며 놀렸다."
LORE & ORIGIN
A Segye Ilbo column of 2015-08-26 titled "진지충 … 출근충 … 벌레먹은 사회" defines 진지충 as a person who fails to read a humorous atmosphere and responds seriously alone, and says the exact source of attaching 충 to words is unclear, with one theory pointing to a Japanese internet community and another to the word 무뇌충. A Hankyung student-reporter column of 2015-12-04 describes people who look troubled while thinking deeply and try to say something right being called 진지충, as an example of the bug suffix spreading to ordinary behaviour.
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