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J-Hope is a guy, so why does he say 'unnie' in Cypher pt. 3? (a thread)
Note: As always, take it with a grain of salt because this isn't something I've studied the mechanism of, it's just what I know as a native speaker. Warning: Looooooong thread ahead lol
Note: As always, take it with a grain of salt because this isn't something I've studied the mechanism of, it's just what I know as a native speaker. Warning: Looooooong thread ahead lol
So to start, the noona/unnie-hyung/oppa system definitely is a thing and it's something that people in general stick to naturally. You can check out this post (not my blog) for the basic info: https://seoulistic.com/korean-culture/what-it-means-to-be-oppa-unnie-hyung-noona-older-in-korea/ (+)
There are of course exceptions. E.g. a woman calls her husband's older brother's wife "hyungnim" because that's the correct title/honorific that should be used. Also, aside from culturally engrained usage, people also break the "rules" for various reasons. (+)
One example is some gay men using the feminine terms (unnie, oppa) instead of what's expected of men. I'm not a gay man myself so I can't speak for why they do this, but it is definitely a conscious decision to do so and one that seems to have its own set of rules. (+)
Also sometimes women will intentionally call an older guy "hyung" (or the guy will tell her to call them that). It's not very common, but the reasoning behind this is that they want to intentionally and explicitly stamp out possibilities of a hetero relationship/attraction. (+)
That said, once again it's not very common - a cliche would be a boyish girl with a lot of guy friends who see her as one of the boys and they'd be weirded out if she started wearing make up or calling them oppa (basically becoming a "girly girl") (+)
The opposite case can also be seen - and here's where you can find the answer to, "Why does J-Hope use "unnie" instead of "noona" in Cypher Pt. 3?" (Spoiler: Doesn't have anything to do with the LGBT+)
The line goes: [But 난 입질 왔담 삐끼 모든 언니s call me 삐삐]. (+)
The line goes: [But 난 입질 왔담 삐끼 모든 언니s call me 삐삐]. (+)
My take on the English lyrics:
[But when my fishing line's taut, I become a tout, and all the unnies blow up my phone] (+)
[But when my fishing line's taut, I become a tout, and all the unnies blow up my phone] (+)
Tout = Guys whose job is to go around soliciting ppl to get into the night clubs they work for. They're not "club promoters" because they don't organize promotional activities/events, they mostly go out to the streets to hand out flyers, business cards, tug ppl in, etc. (+)
They're also inside the clubs trying to get girls to go into rooms where guys pay a hefty sum for the table and booze. So as you can imagine, 삐끼s are usually smooth talking, outgoing, humorous, flirtatious, etc. to women. (+)
(BTW take this with a grain of salt because I don't have personal experience with those guys lol I've been to clubs but not night clubs -these two are different in Korea-, and I'm just describing how they're portrayed in general) (+)
And sometimes they'll call women "unnie" to take out the male factor, basically they're trying to appeal to the women as funny, harmless (=non-male) dongsaengs who want their unnies to have a fun and wild night out. (+)
So to breakdown that lyric:
"When my fishing line is taut"
= When fish take the bait
When people take an interest in what he's offering as a rapper
"I become a tout"
I become a smooth talker who draws in the crowd
(+)
"When my fishing line is taut"
= When fish take the bait
When people take an interest in what he's offering as a rapper"I become a tout"
I become a smooth talker who draws in the crowd(+)
"And all the unnies call my pager/call me/call me Pipi"
And all the women blow up my phone
"삐삐" means "pager", but it could also be a nickname of the tout character he plays in this lyric. (Touts usually do their job with nicknames)
And all the women blow up my phone"삐삐" means "pager", but it could also be a nickname of the tout character he plays in this lyric. (Touts usually do their job with nicknames)
It could also be an unusual choice of onomatopoeia for "ring ring". But basically what he's saying is that he's successful at drawing in a crowd with his rap.
So there you have it, my take on why J-Hope uses "unnie" instead of "noona" in Cypher Pt. 3!
So there you have it, my take on why J-Hope uses "unnie" instead of "noona" in Cypher Pt. 3!
Additional info about unni/noona-oppa/hyung usage with Namjoon’s tweet as an example:
Tweet: https://twitter.com/whatbtssaid/status/998593186791542784?s=21
Explanation: https://whatbtsactuallysaid.tumblr.com/post/174146993642/unnie-noona-oppa-hyung
Tweet: https://twitter.com/whatbtssaid/status/998593186791542784?s=21
Explanation: https://whatbtsactuallysaid.tumblr.com/post/174146993642/unnie-noona-oppa-hyung
We have a testimonial(?) from an army who experienced an “unnie”-saying 삐끼 who tried to solicit her and her friends to go into a night club 
Hope it wasn’t a scary experience!! It’s good to know it was handled well @ot7elitist
https://twitter.com/ot7elitist/status/998964441516576768?s=21
Hope it wasn’t a scary experience!! It’s good to know it was handled well @ot7elitist
https://twitter.com/ot7elitist/status/998964441516576768?s=21
