terminology

this is mostly a glossary of b/s/t terms, as defined and elaborated on by me and me alone, but seeing as how kpop tends to be a queer and fan service-y space, i've gone ahead and included some terms that go a little bit farther afield than, strictly speaking, just buying, selling, and trading.

most likely, if you're going to want to search something on here, ctrl/cmd+F is going to be your friend on this page, but in case you want to jump around based on letter, here's a starting point for that:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

ao3

archive of our own, refers to fanfic/fanwork archive site run by the organization for transformative works.

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B

"no backouts"

common rule GOMs will set for joining so that joiners think twice before signing up. GOMs generally discourage backing out of a group order

banmal

informal register of korean, spoken between friends. compare with formal, polite korean

big 3, big three

refers to the traditional major players in the kpop/entertainment industry, namely SM, JYP, and YG. major groups from early gen kpop include:

YG: psy, big bang, 2ne1
JYP: 2pm, wonder girls
SM: shinee, snsd/girls generation, boa, super junior, f(x), exo

today, YG is comparatively less and less relevant because its talent development has stalled compared to both SM and JYP

big 4, big four

refers to the a newer iteration of major players in the kpop industry, adding big hit (BTS' company) to the big 3 of JYP, SM, and YG. big hit then rebranded and reorganized in 2020 tobecome hybe entertainment, absorbing several other smaller labels such as source music and pledis.

birthday MD

see MD

BL or boys love

genre of media in asia, especially east asia, where the romantic pairing is between two men

broadcast, broadies

exclusive set of photocards available only by going to pre-recording/sanok at a music show. fans who attend sanok typically get a full ot# set of broadcast photocards as part of their package, like a VIP bag, for attending.

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C

chingu

"friend" in korean, in the sense that the person is a close personal friend, but also refers to someone born in the same year, meaning same aged cohort, not necessarily a close friend. however, culturally, being born in the same year opens up stronger possibilities that two people can become close; having even a one year age gap can pose an obstacle to being close; see also korean age

claim

a part of a group order initially requested by a joiner and confirmed by the GOM when that joiner actually joins the GO. see also fixed claim, soft claim.

collab

comeback

new album and the promotional period around that album. typically has a different concept, aesthetic, or theme from previous comebacks, including refreshed looks.

company

idol management and music label. in the kpop industry, companies typically recruit talent as teenagers and put them into a rigorous trainee program in order to one day formally debut. see trainee program.

concept

vibe or theme of a comeback, or even just a song. common concepts: dark, boyfriend, girlcrush (for girl groups), clean, refreshing, sexy.

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D

debut

DOMs

domestic shipping, referring to the shipping costs from the GOM to the joiner

DMs

direct messages, generally on a social media platform such as instagram, twitter, or facebook. b/s/t community primarily talks about DMing or direct messaging people, rather than PM or private messaging, and GC or group chats, which are more private than fully open-to-the-public conversations.

DWAYOR

"deal with at your own risk" posts are callout/warning posts to the b/s/t community at large to deal with the named person at their own risk. generally for joiners, it's someone who ghosts the gom or joins irresponsibly, and generally for GOMs, the complaints have to do with slow sendouts, non-communication with joiners, and other poor management of a GO. DWAYOR posts generally will consist of receipts with DM screenshots, explanatory/narrative text, and dates. while it's possible to search up well-tagged DWAYORs on someone you're dealing with or contemplating dealing with, it can be tricky if they've changed their username one or more times.

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E

EMS

name of a mail shipment service in korea, but used in b/s/t shorthand to refer to international shipping from south korea to the GOM, before the GOM then does further sorting and sends out claims to individual joiners. EMS is typically divided up amongst joiners according to their claims, so that it comes out to a few cents or dollars per claim, rather than the typically large amount that international shipping costs if one were to order directly from korea.

exclusive

refers to a photocard or other bit of limited edition merch that comes with an album, usually the full photobook album version. exclusives are often tied to a region, such as the U.S. exclusive or european exclusive, or a store, such as barnes & noble exclusive, walmart, target, HMV, or FNAC. other types of exclusives include store type, such as pop up and hello82. store and venue exclusives are typically denoted on the outside of the packaging by some kind of sticker. region exclusives and venue exclusives are not usually mutually exclusive; a photobook album sold in the U.S. at a barnes & noble will have both exclusives prepackaged with the regular photocards that are otherwise available with that album bought anywhere else in the world.

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F

face value, fv

the face value of merch or a concert ticket, meaning whatever the original buyer bought it for. a seller asking for face value is not seeking to make a profit off from the re-sale.

fan call

a virtual fansign type of experience consisting of a ~2 minute video call with a member. fan calls as a practice began during the covid pandemic as a way for fansigns to continue through lockdown and social distancing. fan call promotional events are run by a specific store with a specific period of entry in which an album purchase amounts to a raffle ticket for the fan call. typically, fan calls are with a single member, but extremely rarely there will be ot# fan calls where a winner will have a ~2 minute video call with each member.

fan call raffle

refers to the GO-internal raffle that a GOM runs among joiners to see which joiner will put their name on the entire GO's purchase. for example, if 22 people join a GO to buy 56 albums or seven ot8 sets, there would be a raffle among those 22 people to see whose name gets attached to the 56 album purchase. some GOMs will run their raffles so that each joiner is in the internal raffle proportional to how many claims they have, and some GOMs will specify that only one entry is given per joiner regardless of number of claims. some may have bonus entries for fixed claimers or other rules that should be specified prior to taking claims. once the internal raffle is won, there is still a raffle to be won for the member at the store level, so it is not a guarantee of a win even if the number of total albums purchased is a lot. some members are more competitive than others and that can vary comeback to comeback as well.

fan call attempt

refers to a fan call event where the person whose name is entered for the GO's orders is not raffled off but set to be a specific person from the beginning. sometimes it is for the GOM, in which case it's often called a "personal attempt," and sometimes it's for a GOM's friend, or a joiner who had previously won a raffle but didn't win at the store. the designated person who is going for the attempt often incentivizes people to join that particular GO by subsidizing the POB some amount, discounting or covering EMS or DOMs (or both), running a personal giveaway, and other bonuses.

fan meet, fan meeting

fan service

fansign

fansite

dedicated fan (sometimes a group of fans) of an idol who diligently attends concerts, fansigns, and other events (including airport takeoffs) and posts high quality photos and video of the idol on their website or social media.

FC, fan call

see fan call

FC, fan club

fc can also refer to fan club, such as in "japan fc" which has exclusive photocards that can be bought aftermarket

feature

fixed claim

also known as hard claims, refers to a joiner agreeing to automatically opt into a GOM's GOs for a specific member, generally for the span of a comeback, under whatever circumstances the GOM and fixed claimer agree on. there is usually a little leeway to back out of a fixed claim at least once per comeback, but it's generally a much more expensive commitment than a soft claim. the exact rules and exemptions are dictated by the GOM so that joiners know what they're signing up for with their fixed/soft claims.

freebie

free item, often handmade or unofficial. freebies in the b/s/t community generally means small items inserted into the envelope or package being sent; usually stickers, lomo card, or other light items. some sellers and traders make it a habit to include freebies whenever sending out mail, but it's not a requirement

concert freebies are a common tradition at kpop concerts both in korea and internationally, and may include stickers, photocards (official and unofficial), keychains, bracelets and other jewelry, small towels, and other small gifts to give out at the concert for a sense of camaraderie, celebration, and commemoration of the event.

fromm

full set

refers to a full of something, typically in the sense of an ot# set of photocards, but depending on context may also depend on a full set of merchandise, especially where the GOM has allowed joiners to claim only parts of it (such as separating photocard, jewelry, and plush)

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G

GC or group chat

group chat, generally on a social media platform usch as instagram or twitter, but also may refer to text messages. in b/s/t community, GOMs typically add joiners for a specific GO to a group chat for announcements

GO or group order

group order for ordering albums or other merch, typically from south korea to a GOM

GOM

group order manager; a person or team (typically not more than two individuals) who place the order for a group order

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H

hyung

close term for "older brother" when the speaker is also male. akin to gege in chinese or oniisan in japanese, but korean familial terms like this denote the speaker's gender in addition to the hyung's (male) gender. compare to oppa and noona.

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I

IG or insta

instagram, the photo and video-sharing social media platform

inclusions

in kpop b/s/t, inclusions refer to the portions of an album that will be passed on to the GOM/joiner. typically, this includes album photocards, stickers, and postcards, and excludes any CDs, photobooks, and posters.

interest check

instiz

korean social media platform

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J

joiner

a person who joins a group order with a claim.

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K

kaddy or k-addy

stands for korean address, refers to a korean service that takes physical receipt of the gom's packages in korea from the store and store and sort these items until such time that the gom instructs that the package(s) be repackaged for shipment to the gom, wherever the gom may be. these are specialized warehouse services that typically film the unboxing, which is required by many stores in order to fulfill any exchanges or make good on any discrepancies. for a fee, kaddies will also often sort the albums as well, discarding the bulkiest items and shipping the rest onto the GOM. kaddies will also typically hold onto merchandise for a certain amount of time before charging, at which point the GOM will request consolidation so that everything can be repackaged togethera nd shipped to the GOM.

KKT, kakaotalk

korean age

refers to the traditional korean way of calculating one's age, which is always older than one's international age because 1) koreans consider the period of time in the womb to be the first year of life and 2) all people born in a particular calendar year age up to the same age on the same day, on new year's. this means that when you are born, you are 1 already, and on new year's you turn 2. this would mean in one's korean age, if you're born on january 1, your korean age would have you turning 2 on january 1 the following year (where international age says you're just turning 1). but if you're born on december 31st, korean age is calculated at 2 years old just one day later, because that baby was only 1 for about a day before everyone is aged up a year. (for international age, that child is only two days old, not 2 years old.) south korea technically got rid of the traditional korean age system in 2023, but as with many traditional things, it's not necessarily easily dropped.

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L

LD or lucky draw

refers to a special sort of bonus POB that is not guaranteed and usually tied to yet another POB. for example, an LD might be one of four unit photocards, and you can only get on random LD if you purchase 4 POBs. for an ot8 group, that would require purchasing 16 albums and still no guarantee of getting all the LDs; chances are still good that you will not get exactly what you want. the trend lately has been to see how many POBs a store can have fans still purchase in the name of a good LD, so for an ot8 group, the store might require 9 albums purchased for even one random LD. for this reason, LDs are typically very expensive to try to secure.

line

line by year refers to all members born in a particular year

line by specialty, such as rap line, vocal line, dance line.

not to be confused with line store.

line, line store, line app

korean company and app, similar to

live

short for livestream, this is a type of broadcast content where idols come onto a video platform of some kind (youtube, fromm, weverse) and chat with the audience. the idol typically has access to a live chat where audience members

lomo

unofficial photocard, which can be fanmade or commercially sold (on amazon etc) but that is not sold or sanctioned by the idol's company

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M

madhyung

in a given group or family, the madhyung refers to the eldest member, even if it's by a year.

maknae

in a given group or family, the maknae refers to the youngest member, even if it's by a year.

MD

member set

generally refers to when a round of POBs is sold or organized with more than one POB version per member. so claims are typically more expensive because there are more albums involved to purchase. some GOMs allow splitting up claims and others do not.

mercari

secondhand market online shopping platform, similar to ebay, that is popular for kpop b/s/t. prices are typically inflated compared to buying on instagram, but purchases can be made with credit card and guaranteed by mercari in case of refunds.

mini album

typically referred to as an EP (extended play) in non-kpop contexts, a mini album has fewer songs than a "full" album. mini albums have anywhere between 2 and 6 songs, while full albums will have 8 or more.

ML, master list

typically refers to a shared google spreadsheet or notion site where the GOM maintains a list of joiners, claims, and any other info that the GOM decides to maintain. this often includes order status, claim emoji, amounts paid or owed, while not keeping sensitive information such as addresses, full names, and email addresses. MLs are maintained by the GOM for transparency but are generally publicly available to anyone with the link and therefore free of identifying sensitive data.

mukbang

korean for "eating broadcast," refers to a type of livestream content where the person eats on camera while addressing the audience. in non-kpop contexts, it's often a large amount of food or a large variety of food, but idols typically don't eat quite that much and may just be eating incidentally (such as instant ramyeon or a single slice of cake) as part of their live.

music show

class of weekly shows such as music bank, m countdown, and the show, where kpop groups perform to promote comebacks and make debuts. both

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N

naver

korean search engine (like google).

noona

close term for "older sister" when the speaker is male. akin to jiejie in chinese or oneesan in japanese, but korean familial terms like this denote the speaker's gender in addition to the noona's (female) gender. compare to hyung and oppa.

notion

website and productivity app commonly used by GOMs to organize MLs (master lists), allowing joiners to check on their claims. notion can be fairly powerful, with better sorting tools than a spreadsheet app like google sheets, but has a steeper learning curve.

nugu, nugu group

korean for "who" and refers to lesser-known and less successful groups. can be rookies or simply under the radar. often used derogatorily against a group, implying nugu groups are nobodies.

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O

offline

as in "[store name] offline," this refers to an in-person event such as a fansign or store event where there is generally a set of photocards or other merch that is available exclusively in person.

OT#

reference to the full group and all members; number will vary depending on the group. for example, stray kids and ateez are both ot8, bts is always ot7. can mean something specific when referring to a number that isn't the current number of members; for example, stray kids debuted with 9 members and referring to skz as ot9 is making specific reference to the member who left. the same goes for (g)i-dle/i-dle, who also debuted at 6 members. exo, which debuted with 12 members but lost 3 relatively quickly and then became more popular after that, is often referred to as being ot9 for fans who consider the remaining 9 members to be the true heart of the group, even after some of those members subsequently left. "shinee will always be 5" is another phrase to remember its ot5 roots, because jonghyun sadly died in 2017.

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P

photobook

full color book or booklet typically included with a full album

photocard

generally full-color, photo quality collectible cards featuring the idol's image. they mostly come with albums but can also be included with other merch such as concert merch, birthday MDs, and magazines. usually sized 2.2"x3.5" or 5.5cmx8.5cm, but there is some variation, especially for japanese photocards. images are typically of a single idol even in groups, but units and ot# are also possible. photocards can be official, produced or sanctioned directly by the idol's company, or can be unofficial, meaning produced by fans or company without approval.

platform, platform album

refers to an album with a more slim formfactor than a standard photobook album, because there is a QR code on the back of one of the photocards to download the album, rather than including a whole CD. platform albums generally have nothing in them except for photocards and are the size and formfactor of a small deck of playing cards. see also poca album

POB

"pre-order benefit" or POB is typically a special, limited edition photocard (or another bit of collectible merch) that the store offers if you pre-order an album during a specific period of time associated with a comeback. despite the "pre" in the name, there are POBs that are announced well after an album is released.

POB only

refers to the option of joining a GO and opting to get the POB only as your claim. some GOMs allow choosing between "POB only" and POB with inclusions, and some do not allow any choice by the joiner; the entire GO will be one or the other, which the joiners will know at the time of joining.

poca, poca album

refers to an album with a more slim formfactor, with a QR code on the back of one of the photocards to download the album on the platform poca, in lieu of including a CD. poca albums typically look like colorful greeting card envelopes, as compared to photobook albums that are usually in some kind of box and are the size of a thick hardback book to accomodate all the inclusions, and platform albums, which are the size and formfactor of a small deck of playing cards.

pola

short for polaroid, refers to an image

pop up

a temporary shop that opens up in select cities, usually for opening weekend or another promotional period associated with a comeback.

pre-recording

see sanok

proof

providing or posting proof refers to taking a picture of the items received and sending it to the seller or GOM that sent it in order to provide proof for that GOM to re-post for future joiners, which builds the GOM's credibility. this is often the primary form of paying back one's GOM for their services and it's considered standard to provide proof for GOMs and trading partners in the b/s/t community. proofs can be sent to the GOM via DM if the account is private, so that the GOM can at least post it to their own stories, but most GOMs will prefer a "clickable" proof, meaning that the joiner posts to their own stories and tags the GOM, thereby allowing the story to be re-shared by the GOM. such reshared stories are clickable back to the original person who posted the story, thereby increasing the credibility of the GOM.

proxy

broadly speaking, a proxy is anyone who makes purchases on another's behalf. proxies are typically needed for exclusive offline events, because online purchases are not possible. so a fan living in seoul may proxy at a pop up store for a GOM in the U.S., or a new york fan may proxy while visiting the atlanta hello82 store.

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Q

R

rookie

refers to newly debuted idols, typically within the first year of debut.

reels

instagram term for short-form video content. because instagram is owned by meta, this is also the term for facebook video now.

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S

sanok

sasaeng

korean for stalker fan. sasaengs have been known to follow idols on their private time, violate their privacy by breaking into places they shouldn't be, stealing things, and otherwise harassing and stalking idols.

secure, secured

refers to merchandise that is as good as guaranteed. usually merchandise or sets are secured because the GOM has already purchased the items, even without individual claims or joiners.

selca

"self-camera" aka selfie

self-insert

the style of fanfic where the author ships the idol with oneself

self-producing

refers to idol groups that produce their own music, rather than rely on a producer to make their music

sendoff

serial, serial fan caller

refers to fans who, somehow or another, enter and win multiple fan calls with a member or group. some spend their own money upfront for the album entries and try to recoup by selling off excess stock afterward, and some run GOs to find joiners but offer a discount and/or all-in-one pricing (with no EMS/DOMs). not all serials are transparent about who the personal attempt is for, so may be relying on joiners who don't care, mind, or otherwise didn't do any research before claiming. the term serial is generally used derogatorily but covers a wide range of fans, from the delusional and creepy to the private and unscrupulous. some b/s/t community members and kpop fans equate serials with sasaengs but the behavior referred to by serially entering and winning store fan calls is generally a lot less intrusive compared to genuine lawbreaking behavior typical of sasaeng stalkers.

set

refers to a complete set of claims for ot#, i.e. each member. so if there are 7 members in the group, claiming a complete set would be 7 claims, one for each member. in GO management, completing a set means that there are sufficient joiners to cover every member. "incomplete sets" refer to sets where not ever member has been claimed. many but not all GOMs allow one member to be considered complete as long as a certain number are met. so for example, if the GOM indicates that sets are required 7/8 to go forward, then orders for all ot8 albums will go forward so long as there are claims for 7 members. the cost of the unclaimed members are usually distributed to the entire GO.

shipping

supporting the idea of two or more people being in a romantic/sexual relationship. in the context of kpop, shipping is commonly between members of a group

SNS

"social networking service," refers to social media platforms like twitter, instagram, kakaotalk, etc.

soft claim

as compared to hard claims/fixed claims, soft claims are generally an arrangement between a joiner and GOM to commit to a certain number of claims per comeback for the claimed member. the exact rules will be set by the GOM and agreed to by each joiner, but GOMs typically accept soft claims to help guarantee a certain number of sets will go through each time, so that there's less scrambling to make up huge gaps in member claims.

solo, solo fan

sorted claim

refers to a claim going throught he sorting process, organized by the GOM based on the priorities of the joiners. sorted claims are generally promised by the GOM when items are not guaranteed in set amounts, such as with randomly given polas or unit photocards.

sorting form

form that joiners must fill out to indicate what their ranked choice is for a photocard. joiners usually specify upon joining what member(s) they're signing up for, but GOMs will typically require sorting forms when sets come back uneven, meaning that not everyone who signed up for a specific member may be able to get their initial choice.

T

template

fanmade compilations of photocards for ease of marking off what one has and has yet to obtain. templates can be for a whole group or just a single member, and are typically organized by comeback, album type, and level of exclusivity.

timed sorting

title track

trainee program

common system within the kpop industry to recruit talent and develop trainees, generally beginning as teenagers, in order to debut them to the public

tmi

"too much information" but as used in kpop by idols, generally means a bit of trivia. often mundane in nature, like what they ate recently or a funny story.

tumblr

social media platform

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U

uneven set

refers to receiving a set of photocards from a store where not every member is present and accounted for in equal amounts. some stores guarantee "no duplicates" if you order in ot# sets, meaning that ordering in multiples of 8 sets for ateez, for example, will mean that the store guarantees exactly one of each member. however, for when the store provides uneven sets, chances are good that the store will provide duplicates of some members and not enough for other members. GOMs in that case will typically have joiners go through sorting in order to get everyone their second and third choices, or will attempt to trade with other GOMs or others in the b/s/t community in order to get joiners their first choices.

undisclosed pola

refers to a pola given to a winner of a fan call or fansign type of event, which is a real polaroid and not a commercial reprint, and that has never been "disclosed" or released to the public, thereby keeping it unique. owners of undisclosed polas, when putting them up for sale or trade, will typically blur or censor the pola in order to keep it undisclosed. the pola continuing to be unique increases its value.

unit

in general kpop terms, units are subunits of a group, however that subunit is organized. for example, 3racha is a subunit of stray kids in that they are the heavy producing arm of the group, but there are also other units for performance/dance, vocals, and rap.

in b/s/t terms, units are photocards with more than one member on it, typically only two but the exact number is not a requirement. for example, ateez has several 2- and 3-member units that aren't formed across specific performance or production roles. topaz, matz, puppy line, woosan, and more are all units that are more akin to ships but that appear regularly on photocards, usually as LDs or simply bonus units.

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V

W

weverse

name of a popular mobile app and platform developed by hybe, where fans can subscribe to idol livestream and texting-type communications, as well as buy merchandise. see also fromm.

winner set, winners

exclusive set of photocards for winners of fan calls

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