대박 (daebak)

What it means

1. 1.

   Wow; no way; that's incredible. The all-purpose exclamation for anything surprising, good or bad.

2. 2.

   As a noun, a runaway success — a film, a shop or a business that has hit the jackpot. 대박 나세요 is a genuine wish of good fortune to someone opening a business.

Examples with translations

• 대박! 진짜 붙었어?

  No way! You actually got in?

• 이 드라마 완전 대박이야.

  This series is an absolute smash.

Where it comes from

From 大舶, a large ship — a merchant vessel coming in was the traditional image of a fortune arriving. The interjection use is much newer than the noun, and belongs to the last few decades.

Other forms

Romanised as:

daebak