언니의 어려 보이는 스타일 변신 작전

What does “eonni” mean in Korean?

A younger sister ropes her older sister into a style makeover: «너 언니 좀 도와줄 수 있어?» (“can you help your eonni?”). 언니 (eonni) means “older sister”, but only when a female is speaking, and it stretches far beyond family.

A girl calls any slightly older woman, a friend, a shop clerk, a favourite K-pop idol, 언니. Korean even picks the word by the speaker’s gender: a boy says 누나 (nuna) for an older sister and 형 (hyeong) for an older brother, while a girl says 언니 and 오빠 (oppa). Age and relationship are baked right into who you may call what.