지름신 (jireumsin) — The joking ‘shopping spirit’ behind an urge to buy.
Lesson 65 in our Korean Slang series, adapted from Korean Your Teacher Doesn’t Teach You by Injin Hwang. This expression appears in the book’s food, shopping, and style section.
What 지름신 means
When tempted by an unplanned purchase, you can joke that 지름신이 왔다. The situation and tone help determine how natural the expression sounds.
A short conversation
A: 또 이어폰 보러 가?
B: 응, 지름신이 왔나 봐.
A: Shopping for earphones again?
B: The buying urge got me.
Use it with care
A humorous personification, not an actual deity or a reason to ignore a budget. It comes from 지르다, ‘to go ahead and buy’.
A neutral or polite alternative: 갑자기 사고 싶어졌어요. — I suddenly wanted to buy it.
Try it yourself
What does 지름신이 왔어 suggest?
Answer: A playful urge to shop. Read the Korean exchange aloud, then replace one detail with something from your own life.
Learn the rest of the series in Basic Korean Grammar. Find more expressions in the Korean slang book on Amazon.
