TWICE basically taught me how to cry in Korean.
Or at least, I thought they did.
When I first watched “TT,” the meaning seemed pretty obvious. The members make the famous TT pose with their hands under their eyes, and the two T’s look like tears running down a face.
So I came away with a very simple lesson:
TT = crying
Easy.
I even started using TT when messaging a Korean friend.
Then my friend told me something I wasn’t expecting: TT works, but Koreans are much more likely to type ㅠㅠ or ㅜㅜ in everyday messages.
So apparently, there was a little more to the TWICE TT meaning than I had picked up from the music video.
Why Does “TT” Look Like a Crying Face?
Look at a capital T.
The horizontal line can look like an eye, while the vertical line underneath looks like a tear running down.
Now put two together:
TT
Two eyes. Two tears.
That’s why the title and TWICE’s choreography work so well together.
The members make T shapes with their hands and place them under their eyes, turning a simple text emoticon into one of the group’s most recognizable dance moves.
Once I saw the choreography, I didn’t really question it.
TT = sad / crying.
What I got wrong was assuming that this must also be what Koreans normally type when they’re sad.
So Yeah, I Actually Used “TT”
I didn’t just learn the expression and forget about it.
I used it.
If something disappointing happened while I was messaging my Korean friend, I’d sometimes send:
TT
It made sense to me. I’d learned it from one of the biggest K-pop songs, after all.
My friend understood what I meant, so nothing seemed wrong.
Then they told me:
Koreans usually use ㅠㅠ or ㅜㅜ much more often.
And there went my confidence in the Korean texting skills I thought TWICE had given me.
ㅠㅠ and ㅜㅜ Were Everywhere
Once my friend pointed them out, I started noticing these two constantly:
ㅠㅠ
ㅜㅜ
They’re Hangul vowels, but when they’re used in messages, the important thing is their shape.
ㅠㅠ looks like eyes with tears falling underneath them.
ㅜㅜ gives a similar crying-face feeling.
If you literally read the Hangul letters themselves:
ㅠ = yu (유)
ㅜ = u (우)
So technically:
ㅠㅠ → yu-yu
ㅜㅜ → u-u
But this part is important: Koreans normally aren’t sitting there reading ㅠㅠ out loud as “yu-yu” every time they see it in a message.
It’s a text emoticon.
You see the crying face rather than treating it like a word that needs to be pronounced.
That distinction would’ve been useful for me to know a little earlier.
And You Don’t Have to Be Actually Crying
Another thing I eventually picked up is that ㅠㅠ doesn’t automatically mean something terrible happened.
It can obviously show real sadness, but people also use it for small disappointments or complaints.
Something like:
콘서트 티켓 못 샀어 ㅠㅠ
Konseoteu tiket mot sasseo ㅠㅠ
“I couldn’t get concert tickets ㅠㅠ”
Or:
내일 일찍 일어나야 해 ㅜㅜ
Naeil iljjik ireonaya hae ㅜㅜ
“I have to wake up early tomorrow ㅜㅜ”
So depending on the situation, it can feel less like serious crying and more like:
“Nooo…”
or:
“Ugh, this sucks.”
That made Korean messages make a lot more sense.
TT Is Still Fine — Just Don’t Type “tt”
The funny thing is, my original lesson from TWICE wasn’t completely wrong.
TT is still understandable as a crying emoticon.
It’s just not the only option, and in everyday Korean messages you’re likely to see ㅠㅠ and ㅜㅜ a lot.
There’s also one tiny detail that matters if you want the crying face to work:
TT ✓
tt ✗
The capital T creates the shape.
With lowercase t, you lose that clear eye-and-tear look, so TT is the version you want if you’re using the emoticon.
This might be the smallest Korean lesson I’ve learned from K-pop, but it’s also one I’ve actually used in real conversations.
The TWICE TT Meaning Wasn’t Wrong — I Just Stopped Too Early
Looking back, TWICE didn’t really teach me the wrong thing.
TT does look like a crying face.
The song and choreography make that perfectly clear.
I was the one who took that information and jumped straight to:
“Cool, this must be how Koreans always text when they’re sad.”
Not quite.
Now when I see ㅠㅠ or ㅜㅜ in Korean comments or messages, I don’t have to wonder what those strange Hangul characters are doing at the end of a sentence.
And yes, I still use TT sometimes.
I just know there are a couple more options now.
Which one did K-pop teach you first: TT, ㅠㅠ, or ㅜㅜ?