Yeong-mi: voted word of 2018

An infographic by Realmeter shows “Yeong-mi,” the given name of a national curling team member shouted by the team leader Kim Eun-jung during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, was picked as the “word for 2018.” / Courtesy of Realmeter

By Jung Hae-myoung

The word of 2018 was “Yeong-mi,” the given name of national curling team player Kim Yeong-mi, as the name was shouted dozens of times during the games by the team leader Kim Eun-jung during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, a Realmeter poll showed, Monday.

The pollster announced the results of the survey on the most talked about and most memorable words for 2018, with Yeong-mi gaining 18.5 percent of votes among 503 respondents.

It was followed by the remark of Hong Joon-pyo, former leader of the main opposition, right-wing Liberty Korea Party. His Facebook post on Nov. 11 was seen to be a sarcastic jibe at the Moon Jae-in administration's sending of 200 tons of boxes of tangerines to North Korea. Hong wrote of the gesture, “Do the tangerine boxes contain only tangerines?” raising suspicions that the boxes may contain cash or other bribes for the North. The assumption came from his own party's previous methods as some politicians offered bribes in fruit boxes.

“Who else should I blame?” a sentence from the suicide note of the deceased Rep. Roh Hoe-chan of the Justice Party, marked the third most memorable phrase. He killed himself on July 23 after being investigated for his alleged involvement in a bribery scandal.

In fourth place was “That one mudfish,” an expression Cheong Wa Dae used to call Kim Tae-woo, a former member of the special inspection team at the presidential office, after he disclosed allegations that Cheong Wa Dae ordered civilian surveillance.