Oppa means more than elder brother: A comparative study of the usages of the term Oppa in current Thai and Korean contexts

Abstract

Following the international Korean Wave, the Korean term of address Oppa has become widely adopted as a loanword with the meaning shifted from “an elder brother” to “an attractive South Korean man” in English contexts (Salazer, 2021). Similarly, Oppa is used in Thai society with its own nuances. Thus, this study investigates the usages of the term Oppa in present Thai and Korean contexts (2019-2024) by using language corpora and online search results to discover similarities, discrepancies, and varying perceptions of the term. The results show five senses in Korean contexts: 1A. an attractive man, 2A. a male celebrity, 3A. a close male acquaintance, 4A. an elder male sibling or cousin, and 5A. a male romantic partner. Three senses in Thai contexts: 1B. an attractive man, 2B. a South Korean man, and 3B. a South Korean celebrity, with semantic intersections between 1A and 1B, and 2A and 3B resulting from influences of Korean fandom subcultures and beauty standards in Thai society. In Korean contexts, the term Oppa is primarily used to address 3A, 4A, and 5A, while the usages to address 1A and 2A are restricted within subcultures. In the general Korean Population, the term is used mindfully since it can be negatively perceived due to flirtatious or overly cute undertones and association with fandom subcultures. In contrast, the term Oppa is used indiscriminately in Thai contexts with 1B and 3B’s frequent co-occurrences with positive phrases, suggesting Thais’ favorable perception of the term.