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[K-drama Treasure Hunt] Funny nicknames saved in phones

Welcome to the K-drama treasure hunt, where we all go looking for K-drama treasure in the form of tiny drama details that we know and love. Sometimes these details take the shape of well-worn tropes (oppa Band-Aiding) or storytelling devices (Top Secret Deadly Allergy), but other times it’s just details we know we’ve seen in other dramas, but need help putting all the clues together.

Each week we’ll put you on the hunt for a piece of K-drama treasure, and you can report your findings in the comments.

There’s no umpire in this game, so if you find the detail we’re looking for, drop the drama title (or even better, drama title + episode number) in the comments, and we’ll all take your word for it. Or, we’ll go binge watch just to see it play out.


This week’s treasure:

Funny nicknames saved in phones.

 
Your mission:

Dig up all those hilarious nicknames that only K-drama characters could come up with. Most times these witty names will be revealed when they light up on someone’s phone — like the time our hero in My Roommate is a Gumiho learned he was saved as “Pox.”

 
Reference drama:

My Roommate is a Gumiho (Episode 14)


 
Have an idea for the next treasure hunt? Email your topic to hello @ dramabeans.com!
 
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In Her Private Life, the FL saves the ML as "saja" in her phone. Because "Ryan" and "lion" sound so similar! This was one of the first times I could read hangeul on someone's phone, so I was really proud when I saw this hahaha!

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Business Proposal - Archaeopteryx : the FL compares the ML to an Archaeopteryx and then we got a little one every time he called her :D

Error aka Ae-Ra on Dong-Man's phone in Fight My Way. If I remember well.

Dog Fur in Cheese in the Trap but I don't remember if it's just a nickname or he registered her name like this.

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Just saw it today: “Crescendo🤍” on Seo-ri’s phone for Woo-jin in Thirty but Seventeen…

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Island ep 4 shows that Miho saved her number as 주인님 (owner, master) in the phone she gave Van, who promptly rolls his eyes as soon as he sees it

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The Good Bad Mother (Episode 11): Lee Do-hyun and Yoo In-soo save each other as "Bride or Wife 색시" (Netflix translates as "Fiancée"), so when the thugs went through Yoo In-soo's phone, all they saw were calls made to his wife.

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There’s Obnoxious Deborah The Liar on Su-hyeok’s phone. I found that one funny as it was so childish and petty. It made sense too given the context that Su-hyeok blamed Deborah for his breakup lol

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Are we all simply not talking about how this saved name changes in the final episode? I mean I know that *I* am actively not talking about it or trying to think about it (until now, obvs…such hypocrisy). Aigoo, OTT aeygo…

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Oh man, that was so cute

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This is a fun one! I can't pinpoint any so I sure hope more beanies will find and share these. there have been some really funny ones on dramas.

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In Monthly Magazine Home, the ML saves the FL's number as Na Pa-won, in English, Na Zero-won.

The leads in Because This Life Is My First kept their names stored as landlord and tenant, after they got married.

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I knew there was one in BTLIOF, but I couldn't remember what it was! I just remembered that it was one of the things that outed them to the cafe/wedding hall worker.

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And they change the names in the final ep and it is just sooo sweet

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Oh there are so many. I love that this seems to be a pretty common thing in k-dramas (maybe also for Koreans?). Other than the ones already mentioned, I can remember off the top of my head -
- The FL in The Beauty Inside saves the ML's name (Seo Do-jae) as Seo Do-jaesu-eopseo, which literally means something like "someone with no luck" but is shorthand for jerk/a**hole.
- In Hospital Playlist, Ik-joon saves Ik-soon's name as "Previously Mickey, Now Ik-soon" because Jun-wan had confused her name with that of their dog Mickey 😂.

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How can you do that to your sister😂

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Here’s one that’s more of a question than a response to the prompt :)

I’ve always had a question about one of the saved cellphone names from Sh**ting Stars. Now, my knowledge of Korean is minimal (and frankly, that’s generous), so I may be asking something obvious to many. However, this little detail in this drama has really bugged me in the past, and here’s a golden opportunity to ask!!

Oh Han-byeol‘s saved name for Gong Tae-sung is 꽁 치 at the start—I think it changes near the end (maybe only with the addition of a heart), but I haven’t tracked that change down (someone more persistent than me has probably already done it).

That said, focusing on the starting name, when one does one’s “due diligence machine translation” on this, it comes up as a particular species of fish, and I think I remember it being translated in the subs as just “kkong fish.”

Anyone know/understand the backstory on this one? I’d really love to know.

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I looked it up because I was curious. In Ep.3, Han-byeol mentions that the name is actually a combination of Gong Tae-sung and 개복치 (gaebogchi), which refers to the sunfish. She calls him the weight on her shoulders, which makes sense given how huge sunfish can be 😂.

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I’ll go back and catch that!! Thank you!

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@miso…wow, I could have blinked and missed that! Thanks! Also, “thanks…” I’m now rewatching this drama ;)

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Thank you for that made me laugh out loud because he really was weighing her down with his general behaviour towards her.

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In Fight For My Way, Dongman has Aera saved as Error - which took an embarrassing amount of time to work out was just funny word play with her name!

Also technically not a nickname but it was kind of funny and endearing- in Doom at Your Serice, PBY's chatacter names Doom 'Saram' as in 'person' (and saves his name on her phone as such) because he doesn't have a name and she can't think of anything better. It was one of the first korean words I learnt thanks to this show 😂

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*Service

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In Goblin, Reaper, who has never had a cell phone, gets one for the first time and tries to save Sunny's number. When they first met, he had misheard her name as "Sun-hee," so he saves her as "Sunny Not Sun-hee" with typos and all. He also has Eun-tak saved as "Goblin's Bride." This whole scene in Episode 5 where Shin and Reaper get cell phones is hilarious.

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The way both of them put on their coats to go to the App Store 😂

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Gong Yoo saying 'play store' is seared into my brain for eternity 😂 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VGy2e9rfcY)

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I’ll never forget this YouTube comment…I hate it when the most favorited comment is exactly why I found the video: https://www.dramabeans.com/members/attiton/activity/1410817/

(Click the image to enlarge the comment :))

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Are we all living the same life - because I literally did the same thing 😂 I remember searching 'is Gong Yoo fluent in english' after watching that scene and then finding this same video!

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Can we pls have a treasure hunt for times when actors speak in another language (excellently and not)? That would be so much fun!

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I love this idea!!

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One of the most iconic scenes in a kdrama!

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Off to rewatch the scene to have a good laugh 😂

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Iirc Crash Course in Romance the ML had the FL's name saved phrased in a way so he'd remember not to say it wrong. I can't remember the name though.

I also think The Greatest Love had some good cell contact names

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Oh, and I thought The Girl Next Door in Another Miss Oh was cute

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While you were sleeping Fl called Ml giant crab

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I remember two from THE GLORY, including one of my all-time favorites:

Hyeon-Nam has Yeon-Jin saved in her phone as "Bitch Who Will End Up in a Ditch."

Yeo-jeong has Dong-eun's name saved as "Dong! Eun! Hoo! Bae!" (exclamation points included).

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In Pasta, the chef saves the heroin as "Goldfish".
In Beautiful Gong Shim, she saves Ahn Dan-Tae as "Pervert Lawyer".

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In Dali and Cocky Prince/ Gamjatang, he saves her as 3000 Geops because of this scene:
https://i.mydramalist.com/Qqry7_2f.gif

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In Jealousy incarnate, one of the teenager has the girl saved as "Red" and it took me way too long to realise that it's just the translation of her name.
In Crash course in romance, ML saves FL as "Best banchan in the world" but that's the name of her shop.
There is a nickname in Law cafe.
In Semantic error, the nicknames reflect how they are annoyed with each others.
In a piece of your mind, she first save his number under something like "the guy who comes at night in the studio".
And in Hello Monster, does he not has her number as "my stalker" ?

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Sun-Woo is "Stalker" on Bo-ra's phone in Reply 1988

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Was just re-watching my favorite parts of Good Manager for Junho no good reason, and saw to my glee that Chief Kim has Director Seo in his phone as “Glutton-Sociopath.” 😉

If Beanies have said it once, they’ve said it a million times…MAN, is it enjoyable to watch Junho eat, but more importantly thoroughly relish his food in this drama. Gluttonous, maybe? Maybe not.

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Thanks to @laurensophie, I fell down a Call It Love rabbit hole today, watching all my favorite scenes…totally not rewatching. Totally, totally not rewatching.

In one of these scenes, we learn that Shim Ji-gu has Han Dong-Jin saved in his phone as “CEO Armstrong” in a funny reference to their first meeting where Dong-Jin was praised for being just like “Neil Armstrong: the first man to ever woo the moon” (referring to Shim Woo-joo) 🌝

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Looking back at some of the treasure hunts! I always like this topic.

Not funny but poignant: Oh Hye Won saves Lee Sun Jae as "Home" in Secret Love Affair. He is her home as her own is cold and lonely.

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In Run On, Mi-joo is saved in SUn-Kyun's phone as "When Hungry, Bang".
I would very much like how that plays out in Korean. Is it an innuendo in Korean, too?

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Does he maybe write "When Hungry, Ramyeon" in Korean?

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This made me want to look it up!!! In searching I found that @lovepark makes note in the weecap for Episode 1 here on this very site: https://www.dramabeans.com/2020/12/run-on-episode-1/

No, it’s not rameyon…it’s “tang.” But that apparently can mean “bang” or “soup.” I mean rameyon’s a kind of soup, tho :)

I’m not in a place where I can double-check, but no need to doubt lovepark!

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Thank you, Seon-ha!

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Especially since they later agree to have "ramyeon", wink wink.

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In Life the underling is saved in the hospital president's phone as Worker Ant, and the president is saved in the underling's phone as Glutton. Love it!

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