알잘딱깔센

Origin

Aljalttakkkalsen is built from the first syllables of a Korean phrase meaning "on your own, well, just right, neatly and with good sense." It is often shortened further to aljalttak. The phrase comes from game streamer Woowakgood. During a live broadcast for a contest with fashion brand FILA in June 2018, he grew frustrated with the stale ideas viewers were sending in and said, roughly, "on your own, well, with sense, neatly and with sense... just right, please." The rambling request, with "sense" said twice, got a laugh, and viewers shortened it into a new word.

The FILA x Woowakgood collaboration that came out of that contest went on sale on August 4, 2018. Outside an ABC-Mart store in Incheon, about 300 people had gathered by midnight and close to 700 by 8 a.m., camping overnight in a heat wave, and the stock on Musinsa sold out in roughly 15 minutes. FILA's official online store briefly crashed under the traffic despite a server upgrade beforehand. The launch made news as a show of a streamer fandom's buying power, and a throwaway line from its preparation took on a life of its own.

Spread

It broke out of streaming culture in 2020 thanks to BTS. The word came up as a question in a slang quiz on Naver V LIVE, and the clip of the members guessing its meaning pushed it to the top of portal search rankings. Jimin joked, "If you use words like this, King Sejong will shed tears."

After that, variety shows made it a regular in their slang quizzes, including several appearances on tvN's Earth Arcade in 2022. That August, a column on Mobiinside introduced Woowakgood as the game creator who coined the word and noted that it had become a Gen Z catchphrase mentioned repeatedly on TV.

Usage

Asking someone to handle something without giving specifics: "just do it aljalttakkkalsen" — usually half joke, half passing the buck
Praising someone who read the situation and handled it well: "that was totally aljalttakkkalsen"
Self-deprecating complaints at work when a boss or client gives only vague instructions: "they want it aljalttakkkalsen again"

Among millennial and Gen Z office workers in particular, it resonates as a jab at being asked for results with no clear criteria.