"If You Underestimate This Scene, You Can't Even Talk"... Do You Need to Know 'Pangyo Dialect'?

"Develop the security, do a marriage check,
resell it, and when doing issue makeup, lock and..."
'Pangyo Dialect' Confuses Netizens, Sparks Buzz

"Please marriage check the security development and resell it, and give me a lock and when you make up the issue."

Stock photo unrelated to the content of the article

Recently, more people who visited Pangyo, Gyeonggi-do, where startups and IT companies are concentrated, have been feeling bewildered by the flood of unfamiliar terms. Employees of startups and IT companies mainly use jargon at work, which is called the ‘Pangyo dialect’ because it is difficult for the general public to understand.

On the 26th of last month, an anonymous office worker posted a complaint on the workplace anonymous community 'Blind' about suffering from this ‘Pangyo dialect.’ The writer, Mr. A, who recently started working in Pangyo, attached a photo of a text message with the title "I want to break all the Pangyo dialect."

The revealed photo contained a text conversation between Mr. A and a colleague. The colleague sent a message to Mr. A saying, "Assistant Manager, please marriage check the security development and resell it, and give me a lock and when you make up the issue from the morning meeting." When Mr. A asked, "Sorry, I’m not familiar with this Pangyo language, could you please clarify exactly what you need?" the reply was, "I’ll call you tomorrow. To advise you, Assistant Manager, you should learn the Pangyo dialect well. If you underestimate this field, you won’t even be able to have a conversation."

Mr. A was baffled, asking, "Do the seniors in Pangyo really use this kind of speech a lot?" and "I’ve never been told that my academic background is lacking or that I’m not smart enough anywhere, so what does this even mean? Can anyone interpret this?"

Pangyo Techno Valley Panorama
[Photo by Pangyo Techno Valley]

Interpreting the ‘Pangyo dialect’... “Is this correct?”

In the message, ▲Secu(curity) means Security ▲Develop means Develop (work progress) ▲Marriage check means Marriage check (integration review) ▲Resell seems to be used as ‘review again’ ▲Make up means Make up (problem solving and supplement) ▲Lock and is presumed to mean Lock and (finalize and share).

Therefore, the message can be interpreted as: "Assistant Manager, please review again the security-related matters (Secu) developed in the morning meeting, and after reviewing (Resell), prepare a solution (Make up) if any issues arise, and share it (Lock and)."

Netizens who saw the post responded critically, saying, "Speaking like that would be even harder," "It’s really ridiculous," "I work in a company in the US and can’t understand any of it," "Just use English from start to finish," "It looks so unprofessional," "When I first worked in Pangyo, I thought it was an alien language," "People who use this are actually common," "If you want to get a job in Pangyo, you have to learn the Pangyo language first."

Meanwhile, a representative Pangyo term is ‘Let’s do it lean.’ ‘Lean’ originally referred to an optimized production system introduced by Toyota in the 1960s by selectively adopting key elements from Ford’s production system in the US. However, in Pangyo, it is used to mean ‘let’s execute quickly even if it’s not perfect.’ Also, an outstanding person in an organization is called “that person is fundinggam” in Pangyo dialect, whereas in a general company they would be called an ‘ace.’ Additionally, the term ‘all rounder,’ referring to a person who handles marketing, HR, accounting, etc., is also considered a representative Pangyo term.