Chinese ARMY Has Nicknames For Each BTS Member
With A.R.M.Ys all over the world, it makes sense that BTS’s members have been given many different nicknames.
But the Chinese A.R.M.Y has some super cute and accurate nicknames for each member, based on puns around homophones (or tones) in the Chinese language.
The Korean language uses some Chinese words so some of the sounds are similar and names can be directly translated, but the puns have been creatively thought up by Chinese fans!
RM is written 金南俊, which translates to jin nánjùn (a Chinese translation of RM’s birth name), but he often gets called cuter names!
- 俊俊 (junjun) – repeats the last character/sound to make it cute
- 拉蒙 (laméng) – comes from ‘RapMon’ with a Chinese accent
- 金队长 (jin duìzhang) – Kim Leader
Jin is written 金硕珍 or jin shuòzhen, but is most often jokingly called fake or old – different from Korean A.R.M.Ys who call him “handsome Jin” or “awkward Jin”!
- 大哥 (dàge) – Eldest hyung
- 假忙内 (jia mángneì) – Fake maknae
Suga is also referred to by his birth name as 闵玧其 or 闵玧其 (Min Yunji/Yunqí), but his nicknames reflect him well!
- 糖糖 (tángtang) – Sugar sugar
- 糖爷 (táng yé) – Lord Sugar
- 闵爷 (min yé) – Lord Min
The character 爷 (lord) in Chinese actually means grandfather on its own usually, but its meaning has changed to fit with modern times. It is sometimes used as a joking way to refer to people who are old-fashioned or command some respect in the group, and in this instance it’s all about respect!
J-Hope‘s nickname is based on 郑号锡 (zhelèng haòxi) and is (hoùbi) – a cute abbreviation of ‘hope’.
He’s also called 小可愛 (xiǎo kě ài) sometimes, which means “little cutie”!
Jimin is 朴智旻 or piáo zhìmin but his nicknames are mostly food related.
- 鸡米 (jimi) – literally means chicken rice
- 旻旻 (minmin) – cute repeat of final character
- “cute squishy desserts” are also substituted to refer to Jimin!
V is 金泰亨 or jin taìheng but is also called 泰泰 (taìtaì).
This is a repeat of the ‘taì‘ character to sound cute.
V’s puppy Yeontan goes by 黑炭 (heitàn), which means black coal (same as the Korean meaning), and 碳儿 (tàn’er) – the ‘er’ is added to the end of nouns to make them sound cute.
And finally, Jungkook is written as 田柾国 (tián zhenggúo). His nicknames are all to do with food and animals!
- 蒸锅 (zhengguo) – Steam pot
- 果果 (guoguo) – Fruit
- 兔子果 (tùzi guo) – Bunny Kookie
- 果爷 (guo yé) – Lord Guo/Kookie/Fruit
- 黄金忙内 (huángjin mángneì) – Golden maknae
- 金針菇 (Jin Zheng Gu) – Enoki mushroom
As for shipping, “Taekook” (the fandom pairing of V [Taehyung] and Jungkook) is sometimes referred to as 正太 (zhèngtaì) in China.
It’s a term that means “pretty/handsome little boy.”
And for the Suga/Jungkook pairing, known as “Sugacookie,” in China it’s called 糖果 (táng guo) which directly translates to “candy.”
