西洋오랑캐

Koreans in general are obsessed with name brands and logos. Sit in a subway station and look at people as they walk by and you’ll be overwhelmed by the insane ammount of labels and logos that people will be wearing. Purses, shirts, hats, belts all need logos. Koreans don’t seem to care if the logo is real or fake, so today we will delve into the isane world that is Korean Puma knock offs.

What originally started off as either a spelling error or minor change to prevent lawsuits (POMA vs. PUMA) quickly became a comedic hit in Korea, so let’s check em out shall we?

Dama is a Korean (via Japanese) billiard term. Since I’m not a pool shark, I’m not sure if I’m correct or not, but I’m pretty sure it is the cue ball.

Pina (피나) is Korean for “To bleed” hence the bloody cat on the shirt.

Three for one. Chima (치마) is Korean for “skirt.” Piwooda (피우다) is Korean for “to smoke (a cigerette / cigar / pipe).” Somehow this became Pima for the purpose of these shirts. Biman (비만) is Korean for “fat” or a “gut” (not “pregnancy” like I first thought when I saw this shirt).

Imma (임마) is like “bastard.” It is commonly directed at ones own children prior to smacking them upside the head. This is not to be confused with ima (이마) which means forehead.

Jana. Well jada (자다) means to sleep in Korean. So there you go.

Pama (파마) is Korean for perm. Check out that sweet ajumma perm.

Hama (하마) is Korean for hippo. Aw so cute!

I’ve never seen this shirt in real life, and might just be someone’s Photoshop creation, but if it does exist it’s pretty easy to understand. Clearly Pika is Korean for “a mouse with a broken tail.”

Another shirt I’ve never seen before, this is probably the best of these knock off shirts. We’re going to consult my dictionary for this one. Goja (고자 / 鼓子) is “a man with underdeveloped genital organs.” Somehow the third…er fifth leg this puma is sporting doesn’t really seem “underdeveloped,” but whatever.

So there you have it: fake Korean Puma shirts revealed (and explained). You can thank me later, or now if you so desire.