Koreabeat translates a list of words and phrases used by the lesbian community in Korea from a post at Rateen, an online board for lesbian Korean teenagers. A fun read, even though all of the terms actually come from America (which is an interesting fact in and of itself).
Korean Lesbian Slang A-Z List:
- A-List Gay: A gay member of the elite ruling class
- Andro dyke: A lesbian who is neither particularly masculine nor particularly feminine. They started as a reaction against the butch-and-femme culture of the 1970s. See also flannel shirt dyke and PC dyke
- Baby dyke: A lesbian under 25 years old
- BDSM: Bondage (본디지), Discipline (징벌), Domination (지배), Submission (복종), Sadism (사디즘), Masochism (마조히즘).
- Castro: A neighborhood with more gay than straight couples walking around holding hands.
- Clone: A group of “Castro clones” or “flannel shirt-wearing dykes”
- Daughters of Bilitis: A lesbian organization founded by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon in 1955. At first it was concerned only with the lesbian community but later expanded its scope to deal with legal and educational issues. It published the journal “The Ladder”.
- Diesel Dyke: A truck-driver type butch
- Dom/Dominatrix: This what you call those who control a D/S scene. A dom does not have to be a sadist. Dom is for men and dominatrix is for women. You can also say ‘top’.
- Drag: The clothing of the opposite sex. Also includes the conception of sex and gender.
- Dykon: Lesbian icons like k.d. land, Melissa Etheridge, and Ellen Degeneres.
- Fag Hag: A straight woman who really likes hanging out with gay men
- Flannel Shirt Dyke: A lesbian who is neither butch nor femme. There are not a lot of them but there are flannel-shirt butches and femmes.
- Friend of Dorothy: Gay codeword based on the Wizard of Oz
- Glamour Butch: A lesbian like k.d. land who enjoyes wearing fancy clothes or tuxedoes
- Gold Star Lesbian: A lesbian who has never had sex with a man. There are a lot of gold star lesbians and they don’t have sex with bisexuals, either. Their convictions are extremely resolute and they look with contempt at lesbians who sleep with bisexuals or with men.
- Granola Dyke: Lesbians who are into vegetarianism or New Age. They also like “sparrows” and “lavender crystal power”.
- Key: Used in BDSM. Tops wear a belt on their left while bottoms wear one on the right (American leather scene)
- Lambda: A symbol which began to be used as a symbol of gay pride by the Mattachine Society in the 1970s, and became international. It is a symbol of friendship and gay pride, and was used on shields in ancient Greece by the military.
- Lavender: In ancient Greece this word meant both the color lavender and homosexual.
- Leslie Feinberg: A Communist and feminist trans/gay activist. A transgender lesbian. Author of “Stone Butch Blues” and “Transgender Warriors”.
- Lipstick lesbian: A very feminine lesbian. They are basically feminine, averse to masculine lesbian culture and don’t like the label of lesbian. They don’t do drugs or smoke cigarettes. Opposite of dykes–;
- Monosexual: A person exclusively interested in one sex
- Politically Correct Dyke, PC dyke: Lesbians active in politics. Most of them are andro dykes more than butches or femmes who aren’t usually interested in politics. Some of them can be judgmental and narrow-minded when it comes to the problems of minorities.
- Switch: 1) A person who is both a top and a bottom in the leather scene. 2) A person who can be butch, femme, or andro at any time
- Vegan: The most extreme form of vegetarian. They don’t eat meat, of course, nor dairy products or eggs, or related products. Many lesbians are vegetarians or vegans.
Source: Koreabeat
- Andro dyke: A lesbian who is neither particularly masculine nor particularly feminine. They started as a reaction against the butch-and-femme culture of the 1970s. See also flannel shirt dyke and PC dyke
- Baby dyke: A lesbian under 25 years old
- BDSM: Bondage (본디지), Discipline (징벌), Domination (지배), Submission (복종), Sadism (사디즘), Masochism (마조히즘).
- Castro: A neighborhood with more gay than straight couples walking around holding hands.
- Clone: A group of “Castro clones” or “flannel shirt-wearing dykes”
- Daughters of Bilitis: A lesbian organization founded by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon in 1955. At first it was concerned only with the lesbian community but later expanded its scope to deal with legal and educational issues. It published the journal “The Ladder”.
- Diesel Dyke: A truck-driver type butch
- Dom/Dominatrix: This what you call those who control a D/S scene. A dom does not have to be a sadist. Dom is for men and dominatrix is for women. You can also say ‘top’.
- Drag: The clothing of the opposite sex. Also includes the conception of sex and gender.
- Dykon: Lesbian icons like k.d. land, Melissa Etheridge, and Ellen Degeneres.
- Fag Hag: A straight woman who really likes hanging out with gay men
- Flannel Shirt Dyke: A lesbian who is neither butch nor femme. There are not a lot of them but there are flannel-shirt butches and femmes.
- Friend of Dorothy: Gay codeword based on the Wizard of Oz
- Glamour Butch: A lesbian like k.d. land who enjoyes wearing fancy clothes or tuxedoes
- Gold Star Lesbian: A lesbian who has never had sex with a man. There are a lot of gold star lesbians and they don’t have sex with bisexuals, either. Their convictions are extremely resolute and they look with contempt at lesbians who sleep with bisexuals or with men.
- Granola Dyke: Lesbians who are into vegetarianism or New Age. They also like “sparrows” and “lavender crystal power”.
- Key: Used in BDSM. Tops wear a belt on their left while bottoms wear one on the right (American leather scene)
- Lambda: A symbol which began to be used as a symbol of gay pride by the Mattachine Society in the 1970s, and became international. It is a symbol of friendship and gay pride, and was used on shields in ancient Greece by the military.
- Lavender: In ancient Greece this word meant both the color lavender and homosexual.
- Leslie Feinberg: A Communist and feminist trans/gay activist. A transgender lesbian. Author of “Stone Butch Blues” and “Transgender Warriors”.
- Lipstick lesbian: A very feminine lesbian. They are basically feminine, averse to masculine lesbian culture and don’t like the label of lesbian. They don’t do drugs or smoke cigarettes. Opposite of dykes–;
- Monosexual: A person exclusively interested in one sex
- Politically Correct Dyke, PC dyke: Lesbians active in politics. Most of them are andro dykes more than butches or femmes who aren’t usually interested in politics. Some of them can be judgmental and narrow-minded when it comes to the problems of minorities.
- Switch: 1) A person who is both a top and a bottom in the leather scene. 2) A person who can be butch, femme, or andro at any time
- Vegan: The most extreme form of vegetarian. They don’t eat meat, of course, nor dairy products or eggs, or related products. Many lesbians are vegetarians or vegans.
