Korean Pet Names for your Partner

1. 자기야 (jagiya)

This is an all-time favorite - used by both married couples and partners in a relationship, and even between friends as a joke (think of a girl calling her friend "babe").

Fun fact: the word 자기 technically has no romantic connotations to it. It actually means the person him/herself. Over time, for undeclared reasons, the term has evolved into a popular romantic pet name. 

2. 여보 (yeobo)

If you've watched a single K-Drama series, you should have heard this. This is commonly used between married couples, but people in relationships use this as well, in the spirit of treating the relationship like marriage (cringe, I know). 

This is a sino-Korean phrase, which means there is a Chinese translation behind the word, which is "equivalent to a valuable item". This pet name shows how valuable your partner is!

3. 귀요미 (gwiyomi)

Would you call your partner "cutie"? That's exactly what 귀요미 means! This deserves no further explanation - if you see a friend using this as a pet name, feel free to frown away! 

4. 내 사랑 (nae sarang)

This directly translates to my love, and is not commonly used as a daily pet name. However, it's clean and straightforward, which makes it one of my favorites (today's TMI for you!).

A quick grammar plug - 내 (nae) is short for 나의 (na-ui), which is 나 (me) and 의 (possessive participle). Making this mean "my". We'll post about using this participle on Mallo Bits soon! 

5. 바보야 (baboya)

바보 means idiot. I must clarify that it's a relatively cuter version of the English word - think "dummy". 

It's both a pet name and a tease - to make it sound sweeter, use "my' (from above) with this word - 내 바보! 

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