Texting Spelling: 머해, 어케, 걍 | Korean Grammar

In casual Korean texting, standard spelling goes out the window and words are typed the way they actually sound when spoken fast: 뭐 해? becomes 머해?, 어떻게 becomes 어케, 그냥 collapses into a single block 걍. This is not sloppiness — it is a consistent convention with its own logic, and it signals warmth, speed, and intimacy. This page teaches the core respellings, the principle behind them, and the hard register wall that keeps them out of anything formal.

The principle: spell the spoken reduction, not the morphology

Standard Korean orthography is morphophonemic — it preserves the underlying shape of a word even when pronunciation reduces it. 알았어 is written to show its stem 알- and its past 았, even though people say [아라써]. Texting throws that principle away and writes the surface sound directly: 알았어 → 알써. Everything on this page follows from that one move.

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Texting writes the sound your mouth actually makes and discards the "correct" spelling that preserves grammar. If you already know how a phrase reduces in fast speech (see the colloquial contractions and ending reductions pages), you already know how it gets typed.

Core respellings

The workhorse is 뭐 → 머, which turns the ubiquitous 뭐 해? ("whatcha doing?") into 머해?

머해?

meohae

Whatcha doing? (texting spelling of 뭐 해?)

어떻게 → 어케 ("how") strips the middle syllable down to what survives in speech.

어케 알았어?

eoke arasseo

How'd you know? (어케 = 어떻게, 알았어 written as it sounds)

그냥 → 걍 is the showpiece: three syllables' worth of sound crushed into one block.

걍 집에 있어.

gyang jibe isseo

Just staying home. (걍 = 그냥)

너무 → 넘 ("so/too") and 처음 → 첨 ("first") drop a whole syllable each.

이거 넘 좋아.

igeo neom joa

I love this so much. (넘 = 너무)

첨 봤을 때 깜짝 놀랐어.

cheom bwasseul ttae kkamjjak nollasseo

I was startled when I first saw it. (첨 = 처음)

지금 → 짐 ("now") and the past-tense 알았어 → 알써 ("got it / ok") round out the everyday set.

짐 어디야?

jim eodiya

Where are you now? (짐 = 지금)

알써 이따 봐.

alsseo itta bwa

Got it, see you later. (알써 = 알았어)

The reactive 아니 → 아 ("no, wait…") also shrinks, and the connective 아니고 typically becomes 아니구 (the 고→구 vowel reduction of fast speech).

아 그게 아니구.

a geuge anigu

No, that's not it. (아 = shortened reactive 아니; 아니고 → 아니구)

Standard	Texting	Reading	Meaning
뭐 해?	머해?	meohae	whatcha doing
어떻게	어케	eoke	how
그냥	걍	gyang	just
너무	넘	neom	so / too
처음	첨	cheom	first
지금	짐	jim	now
알았어	알써	alsseo	got it / ok
아니(고)	아 / 아니구	a / anigu	no, wait…
네	넹 / 넵	neng / nep	yes / yep

Playful lengthening and softening finals

Texting spelling is not only about compression; it also stretches and softens to add tone. A trailing ㅇ or ㅁ, or a stretched vowel, is not a typo — it is emotional coloring, the way English writes "yesss" or "okayyy."

좋아앙 고마워.

joaang gomawo

Yaaay, thanks. (stretched 좋아 → 좋아앙 = warmth/cuteness)

넵! 바로 갈게요.

nep baro galgeyo

Yep! I'll head over right away. (넵/넹 for 네 = a brighter, friendlier 'yes')

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The trailing ㅇ/ㅁ and stretched vowels (좋아앙, 넹, 응ㅇ) are tone, not spelling errors. A bare 응 is flat; 응ㅇ or 좋아앙 adds warmth, cuteness, or a smile. Don't "correct" them — they're doing emotional work.

The English mental model

This is Korean's "wanna / gonna / u / ur / prolly / gimme" — phonetic respellings that broadcast informality and speed. The transfer is direct. Two things make the Korean version especially compact: its orthography is shallower (closer to sound) than English to begin with, and its syllable-block system lets a whole reduced word collapse into a single character — 그냥 (three blocks) becomes 걍 (one block), something English respelling can't do. So Korean texting reductions look even more dramatic on the page than English ones.

The register wall

This is intimate, peer-to-peer texting — nowhere else. The exact same 머해 or 걍, typed to a professor, dropped into homework, or sent in a cover letter, reads as illiterate, not casual. In any formal or semi-formal channel, spell it out: 뭐 해요, 그냥, 너무.

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The wall is sharp. 머 and 걍 to a close friend = friendly and normal. The same forms to a senior, a stranger, or in writing that will be graded or evaluated = a mistake, not a style choice. When in doubt about the relationship, use standard spelling.

Common Mistakes

1. Typing textbook-perfect Korean into a friend's chat. Full standard forms to a close friend read as stiff and try-hard.

❌ 무엇을 하고 있어요?

Too formal for a close friend — full standard forms read as stilted and distant in a peer chat.

✅ 머해?

meohae

Whatcha doing? (natural peer texting)

2. Letting texting spellings leak into formal writing. 걍, 머, 넘 in an email or assignment read as errors, not casual flavor.

❌ 교수님, 걍 여쭤보고 싶어서요.

Wrong register — 걍 in a message to a professor reads as illiterate.

✅ 교수님, 그냥 여쭤보고 싶어서요.

gyosunim, geunyang yeojjwobogo sipeoseoyo

Professor, I just wanted to ask. (standard spelling, correct upward)

3. Mis-decoding an ambiguous short form. 짐 can be 지금 ("now") — but it is also a real word meaning "luggage/burden." Only context tells you which.

✅ 나 짐 갈게.

na jim galge

I'll go now. (짐 = 지금 here, NOT 'luggage' — context decides)

4. "Correcting" intentional tone as a typo. The stretched vowels and trailing ㅇ/ㅁ are deliberate warmth, not slips. Reading 좋아앙 as a mistyped 좋아 misses the affection it signals.

Key Takeaways

Texting spells the spoken reduction directly, discarding the morphophonemic spelling that preserves grammar (알았어 → 알써).
Core set: 뭐→머, 어떻게→어케, 그냥→걍, 너무→넘, 처음→첨, 지금→짐, 네→넹/넵.
Stretching and softening (좋아앙, 넹, trailing ㅇ/ㅁ) is emotional tone, not error.
It is Korean's "wanna/gonna/u," made extra-compact by syllable blocks (그냥 → 걍).
Peer-texting only: the same spellings in an email, essay, or message to a senior read as illiterate — spell it out there.
Beware ambiguous clips like 짐 (지금 "now" vs. 짐 "luggage") — context disambiguates.

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