찢었다 (jjijeotda) — Absolutely nailed it.
Lesson 13 in our Korean Slang series, adapted from Korean Your Teacher Doesn’t Teach You by Injin Hwang.
What 찢었다 means
찢었다 praises a spectacular performance: a singer, dancer or other performer did exceptionally well. You are likely to understand it through an enthusiastic reaction after the event.
A short conversation
A: 오늘 무대 어땠어?
B: 완전 찢었어.
A: How was the performance?
B: They absolutely nailed it.
How to understand the expression
The literal verb 찢다 means to tear. In performance slang, nobody needs to tear anything. 찢었다 is the plain past form and 찢었어 is a conversational informal past form. In the example, 무대 stands for the performance, while 완전 strengthens the praise. A beginner can understand the whole phrase before trying to conjugate it independently.
Use it with care
Strong casual praise. In a formal review or when speaking politely to a performer, describe what impressed you instead.
A more neutral or polite alternative:
오늘 공연이 정말 멋졌어요.
Today’s performance was wonderful.
Try it yourself
Does 완전 찢었어 in this conversation mean the stage was physically torn apart?
Show the answer
No. It means the performer did exceptionally well.
Read the conversation aloud, then try the neutral alternative. Notice how the relationship between the speakers changes which wording feels appropriate.
Based on the author’s slang collection, with additional learning notes. AI-generated illustration created for this lesson.
