Owner review 15, stage 2c: deep meaning checks on the 25 survivors (2026-10-13)
Status: Draft · Date: 2026-10-13 · Stage 2c of owner review 15. Audience: the owner and the lead. Nothing outside this file was changed. This stage covers meaning in Korean, English and other languages, plus the Japanese App Store and Google Play. Trademark, domain and handle checks are other lanes.
Owner, review 15 (verbatim). "호밀 is alright, but let's look at othet names as well. I don't want to sound like a derivative of 당근"
Input: the 25 survivors and ranked table in docs/design/research/owner-review-15-words-stage1-2026-10-13.md.
0. Evidence tags and limits
| Tag | Meaning |
|---|---|
| OD | 우리말샘 (opendict.korean.go.kr) exact-match search (wordMatch=Y), fetched 2026-10-13. Senses quoted from the result list. |
| NW | 나무위키 page for the Hangul word, fetched 2026-10-13. "Redirect" means the word has no page of its own, so there is no famous character, meme or slang entry under it. A page title and its section list are what I read. |
| NV | Naver web search "<Hangul>" 은어 비속어 뜻, scanned for slang words near the Hangul. Every hit was an unrelated ordinary use; it is a floor, not proof. The two follow-ups (달님, 물살) were targeted queries. |
| W | English Wiktionary language headings for the lowercase Latin spelling (action=parse&prop=sections), then the raw entry for each page found. A heading is a real word in that language, not a bad one. |
| UD | Urban Dictionary API, exact-word entries only. |
| JP | iTunes Search API, country=jp, entity=software&limit=50, 3 s apart. "Exact" means the title, or the part before : - | (, equals the word. |
| GP | Google Play search page by curl, hl=en&gl=US and hl=ko&gl=KR, 5 s apart; titles parsed from the result cards, then each exact hit's detail page for the download band. |
| K | My own knowledge, not fetched. Used only where marked. |
Limits. English "common sense" is mine. Wiktionary "none" means no page, not a proven clean word. Play search is fuzzy and returns at most about 50 cards, so "no exact app" means none among those cards. Play download bands are the public ranges ("10+", "5K+"). The Hangul spelling was not searched in the JP store (the brief asks for the Latin spelling there). I did not use native speakers.
1. Verdict table
Verdict key: Clear = no bad meaning, no exact-name app. Usable with conditions (UwC) = a mild echo or a tiny exact-name app. Blocked = a bad or culturally owned meaning, or a live exact-name app with users.
| # | Word (Latin / Hangul) | Korean 2025 usage (OD, NW, NV) | English (UD, sense) | Other languages (W) | JP App Store | Google Play (US / KR) | Verdict | Reason and condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sallang 살랑 | OD: adverb "a slightly cool breeze blowing lightly"; also "moving quietly". NW: redirect (no page). NV: no slang. 살랑살랑 carries a coy, flirty tone (K). | No exact entry. | Dupaningan Agta "jaw"; Makasar "later". Neutral. | Near-name only: "SallangSallang" (Lifestyle, 0 ratings, Indonesian developer). No exact. | None / none. | UwC | Suspect "sounds near 사랑": confirmed as a mild one-jamo echo, and a warm one. Condition: the flirty 살랑살랑 tone and the JP near-name app SallangSallang. |
| 2 | Ajik 아직 | OD: adverb "still, not yet"; dialect "morning" (Gangwon, Gyeongsang, Jeonnam). NW: page with songs (Hwisung's 아직 …) and a dialect section; no slang. NV: unrelated hits only. | Two junk personal-name entries (positive). | No Wiktionary page. K: Hindi "ajeeb" is a different word; Balinese "Ajik" is a family term, harmless. | None. | None / none. | Clear | Suspect "near Hindi ajeeb": cleared, the sounds differ (a-JEEB vs AH-jik) and ajeeb is not a brand echo. Fine for a Korean ear: "still going, not yet done" is the brand story. |
| 3 | Dorang 도랑 | OD: "a very narrow, small stream"; dialects "furrow", "circumference". NW: redirect to 개천. NV: none. K: idiom 도랑 치고 가재 잡는다 (clean a ditch, catch a crayfish: two gains). | No entry. | Ambonese Malay and North Moluccan Malay "they/them" (eastern-Indonesian everyday word). Neutral. | No exact; a developer account named "dorang" publishes puzzle games. | None / none. | UwC | Suspect "ditch": confirmed (small stream, ditch). Plain and humble, not bad. Condition: a gutter-water image in Korean; a "dorang" developer account exists in the JP store. |
| 4 | Dume 두메 | OD: "a remote place far from a city, few people live there". NW: redirect (no page). NV: none. | UD has 6 exact entries, all insults ("stupid", one with a slur), zero votes. | Esperanto "meanwhile"; Latin vocative form; Middle High German "thumb"; Swahili "male (of animals)". | No exact. | None / none (near: eduMe, Point Dume). | Blocked | Suspect "evokes 두메산골 (the backwoods)": confirmed by OD's own sense. A name that says "remote, rural" is the wrong signal for Toss-grade polish, and UD adds stupid-slang on the exact spelling. |
| 5 | Milmul 밀물 | OD: "the tide rising"; homonym 密勿 "working diligently". NW: redirect (no page). NV: none. | No entry. | No Wiktionary page. | None. | None / none. | Clear | The diligent-effort homonym is a bonus. Only note: the double m-l is slightly heavy to say. |
| 6 | Irang 이랑 | OD: ridge between furrows; the particle "with, and"; brain gyrus (medical); dialect "cliff". NW: page with a famous singer-director (Lee Lang, b. 1986), a pro wrestler and 6 fictional characters. NV: none. | No exact entry. | Wiradjuri "teeth". | No exact; "iRange" (Sports) is a different word. | None / none. | UwC | Suspects "I rang" and "Iran": both confirmed as English echoes, mild. Conditions: a function word (weak mark), a known singer named 이랑, and the Iran echo. |
| 7 | Gibun 기분 | OD: "mood, feeling"; 7 other homonyms (fraction, dustpan, a skin disease). NW: redirect to 감정. NV: unrelated. | No entry. | Wiktionary "English": alternative form of "kibun" (Japanese 気分, "mood"). K: the Japanese echo is a good one. | None. | Exact: "gibun" by cafe24 corp, 5+ downloads, a shop shell (US and KR). | UwC | Suspect "Japanese 気分, a good echo": confirmed. Condition: one tiny exact-name shop app on Google Play (5+ downloads), and a very ordinary word. |
| 8 | Dolpa 돌파 | OD: "breaking through", "exceeding a record", "overcoming difficulty"; basketball sense "dribble past a defender". NW: page covers the military term and gacha-game "ascension" (돌파). NV: unrelated. | No entry. | None as a word. K: Dolpa is a district in Nepal. | No exact app; a developer "Dolpa" publishes one language-learning app (0 ratings). | None / none. | UwC | Suspect "close to sport meanings": confirmed, OD lists a basketball sense and the word is common in sport and gacha talk. Condition: suggestive of sport talk, not descriptive of it; a military tone. |
| 9 | Balpan 발판 | OD: footrest, stepping stone, "a base to advance elsewhere"; dialect and a publishing homonym. NW: page lists a "stepping-stone character" trope (a figure used to elevate another). NV: none. | No entry. | No Wiktionary page. | None. | None / none. | UwC | Condition: 발판 삼다 ("use as a stepping stone") can read as using someone. Otherwise warm and plain. |
| 10 | Sijak 시작 | OD: "beginning" plus 5 homonyms (tenant farmer, writing a poem, trial product, two songs). NW: page lists the Itaewon Class OST. NV: unrelated. | No entry. | No Wiktionary page. | None. | Exact: "SiJak" (puzzle game, effectshouse), 5K+ downloads, in both US and KR searches. | Blocked | A live exact-name game with users (5K+) on Google Play, and the generic word "start" is a weak mark anyway. |
| 11 | Pallang 팔랑 | OD: "fluttering lightly in the wind", "a butterfly or leaf flying lightly"; a village in Yanggu. NW: no page (404). K: 팔랑귀 ("fluttering ears") means easily persuaded; 팔랑개비 is a pinwheel. | No entry. | None. | Exact: "Pallang - 팔랑" (Book, 0 ratings). | Exact: "Pallang - Simple Notes" (sinu), 50+; "Pallang - 팔랑" (sumi byun), 10+. | UwC | Condition: three tiny exact-name apps (one book app on iOS, two on Play, none above 50+ downloads) and the 팔랑귀 echo of being easily swayed. |
| 12 | Bandal 반달 | OD: half moon, the half-moon of a nail, half a month, a song. NW: moon-phase page; also the Asiatic black bear (반달가슴곰). K: 반달 is also the standard Korean spelling of "vandal" (반달리즘). | UD: a hotel-wrecker joke and a boot-and-sandal joke; neither is the exact common sense. | Maltese "bandal": to swing, rock. | Exact: "Bandal: Korean Dictionary" (Reference, 0 ratings). | None / none. | UwC | Condition: a tiny JP/US dictionary app, the "vandal" echo, and the bear. The Maltese "swing" is a happy motion echo. |
| 13 | Danbi 단비 | OD: 7 homonyms (a lone maid, a broken stele, an amputation, single fertiliser …); the "welcome rain" sense is in NW. NW: sweet rain; a fertiliser; a former variety show; a peacekeeping unit; a chatbot service. | UD: one given-name entry (positive). | No Wiktionary page. | None (15 results, no exact). | Exact: "DanBi (30 sec-cut)" 10+; two Korean apps named "단비" at 10+ and 100+. Company "Danbi Education" runs several apps. | UwC | Condition: crowded. A common girl's name, three tiny Play apps, an education company brand, a chatbot service. |
| 14 | Ojik 오직 | OD: "only, solely"; homonym 汚職 "official corruption"; North Korean crunch sounds. NW: adverb page. NV: unrelated. | No entry. | No Wiktionary page. | None. | None / none. | Clear | The corruption homonym (汚職, long vowel, a formal word) is a rare reading nobody hears in "오직 너만". Spirit meaning is single-minded, not sport. |
| 15 | Dabok 다복 | OD: "many blessings"; two place names. NW: no page (404). K: an old-fashioned greeting register; "da book" in English. | No entry. | No Wiktionary page. | None. | None / none (stage 1: KR iOS Hangul app "다복", Food, 0 ratings). | UwC | Suspect "childish": partly confirmed, the word reads as an elders' blessing. Conditions: the old register, "da book", and the tiny Hangul iOS app. |
| 16 | Mulsal 물살 | OD: "force of flowing water". NW: no page (404). NV: Korean health and diet text uses 물살 for water-retention soft flab ("물살이 많은 비만", "늘어난 숫자의 정체, 알고 보면 물살"). | No entry. | No Wiktionary page. | None. | None / none ("No results" for the search on both storefronts). | Blocked | A second, everyday Korean sense is body slang for soft, watery flab. Wrong signal for a sport-adjacent app. |
| 17 | Dalnim 달님 | OD: the moon, personified and honoured. NW: redirect to 달. NV: confirmed: 달님 was the nickname of President Moon Jae-in (이니 / 달님, 2017 interviews) and is used by both fans and mockers ("달님은 영창으로" 2020 banner row). | No entry. | No Wiktionary page. | None. | None / none. | Blocked | Suspect "childish": true, and a political nickname on top. A name with a partisan reading in Korea is a hard block. The word also reads as a fairy-tale term (해님 달님). |
| 18 | Chorong 초롱 | OD: a tin pail, a unit of liquid, a candle lantern; dialect "birdcage". NW: 8-part page with 10+ characters, mascots and a webtoon lead. UD: one entry, a person. | UD: "a cute and sparkling girl", sexualised clause on the entry. | No Wiktionary page. | None. | None / none. | UwC | Suspect "K-pop singer Chorong": confirmed (Apink leader, also a stage name). Conditions: a celebrity's stage name, a cute-object noun (the mascot trap the brief names), 초롱초롱 is childish. |
| 19 | Norang 노랑 | OD: yellow, a primary colour; also 老娘 "old woman" and 怒浪 "raging waves". NW: redirect to 노란색. K: 노랑이 is slang for a miser; 노란 리본 is the Sewol ferry memorial; Kakao is yellow. | No entry. | No Wiktionary page. | None. | None / none. | UwC | Suspect "childish": a colour word, mildly. Conditions: the tennis-ball wink, the Kakao yellow echo, the Sewol ribbon association, and the 노랑이 miser nickname. Use with care. |
| 20 | Garak 가락 | OD: spindle, a strand, melody, rhythm, the Gaya state, two villages. NW: homonym page. K: 가락시장 (Garak Market, Seoul's wholesale produce market) and 가락동 in Songpa are the first thing a Seoulite hears. | UD: Star Trek tailor Garak. | No Wiktionary page. | Exact: "Garak" (Shopping, 0 ratings, JP). | Exact: "GaraK" (Shopping city-guide, Helper Developers), 1K+ downloads. | Blocked | Suspect "evokes 가락시장": confirmed. A produce wholesale market is the very 당근 association the owner is avoiding. Also a live exact-name app at 1K+ downloads. |
| 21 | Machim 마침 | OD: "just in time", the cadence in music, a root of 마침하다; North Korean spear for big fish. NW: adverb and music page. NV: unrelated hit only. K: reads near 마침표 (full stop). | No entry. | No Wiktionary page. | None; an unrelated "마침랩" (Shopping, 0). | None / none. | UwC | Suspect "machine": confirmed as an English echo, and 마침 also means an ending (마침표). Conditions: weak on sound, ending connotation for a name that should mean beginning. |
| 22 | Dadok 다독 | OD: 多讀 "reading much"; root of 다독거리다. NW: redirect to 독서. NV: none. | No entry. | No Wiktionary page. | None; a Polish developer surname "Dadok". | Exact: "Dadok" / "다독" (Comic & Novel Reader, Collet), 10+ downloads. | UwC | Condition: a tiny reader app with the exact name (10+), "Dad OK" in English, and the dictionary sense is "much reading" (the soothe sense is not a headword). |
| 23 | Tuji 투지 | OD: 鬪志 "will to fight", plus 4 homonyms (lodging, thorough knowledge, "two G" 2G network, an H.O.T. song). NW: the male protagonist of Pokemon Black and White, the H.O.T. song, a 2Z boy group. | UD: one junk personal-name entry (positive). | No Wiktionary page. K: pinyin tūjī is 突击 "assault", tǔjī is 土鸡 "free-range chicken"; Mandarin readers hear those. | One exact-brand app: "Tuji 図記 — 写真で学ぶ単語帳" (Education, 1 rating). | One contains-match: "Tuji Pro" (Jariya Apps), not exact. | UwC | Suspect "assault / free-range chicken": the Chinese readings exist (K, not fetched). Conditions: a fighting-spirit meaning that borders on the sport rule, the Pokemon hero, "two G", and the tiny JP app. The weakest of the conditions group. |
| 24 | Osol 오솔 | OD: only the root of 오솔하다, not a standalone noun (the path is 오솔길). NW: Maple Story character page (a horse spirit). NV: none. K: Portuguese "o sol" = "the sun", a good echo. | No entry. | Slovak "osol": donkey; Sundanese "osol": to incite someone to evil. | Exact: "Osol" (Business, 0 ratings). | Contains only: "OSOL BITELWATAN" (Arabic). | UwC | Suspect "a good echo": true for Portuguese, but two odd foreign senses (a donkey, to incite evil) and Koreans do not use 오솔 alone. Conditions: very thin as a word; a 0-rating business app. |
| 25 | Jasin 자신 | OD: 自身 "oneself", 自信 "confidence", 自新 "renewing oneself", a TCM sense. NW: redirect to 본인. NV: unrelated. | UD: 4 exact entries, personal names with crude remarks. | No Wiktionary page. K: a town and district in Melaka; an Indonesian and Malay given name (Yasin). | None (45 results, no exact). | None / none. | UwC | Suspect "Indonesian or Malay given name": confirmed. Conditions: a place and a given name in Malaysia, "sin" ending in English, the weakest mark among the survivors. |
Counts: Clear 3 (Ajik, Milmul, Ojik) · Usable with conditions 17 · Blocked 5 (Dume, Sijak, Mulsal, Dalnim, Garak).
2. Suspects settled
| Lead's flag | Result |
|---|---|
| 두메 evokes 두메산골 | Confirmed by OD's sense ("remote … few people"); also UD insults. Blocked. |
| 도랑 is a ditch | Confirmed (OD "very narrow small stream"). Plain, not bad. UwC. |
| 초롱 is the singer Chorong | Confirmed (Apink leader; NW lists 10+ characters). Also a cute-object noun. UwC. |
| 가락 evokes 가락시장 | Confirmed (K). It is the produce-market echo the owner wants away from, plus a live 1K+ app. Blocked. |
| 노랑, 달님, 다복 may read as childish | 노랑: a colour, mild, with a Kakao and Sewol-ribbon association (UwC). 달님: more than childish, a political nickname (Blocked). 다복: old-fashioned blessing register (UwC). |
| 살랑 sounds near 사랑 | Confirmed, mild and warm (UwC). |
| Irang reads as "I rang" or Iran | Confirmed, mild (UwC). |
| Machim reads as "machine" | Confirmed, mild; plus the "end" sense of 마침표 (UwC). |
| Dolpa and Tuji sit near sport | Dolpa: OD has a basketball sense, so confirmed (UwC). Tuji: 鬪志 is fighting spirit, near the sport rule (UwC). |
| Tuji in pinyin is 突击 and 土鸡 | The pinyin readings are real (K, not fetched); no Wiktionary page exists to cite. UwC. |
| Jasin is an Indonesian or Malay name | Confirmed (K, plus the Melaka town). UwC. |
| Gibun is Japanese 気分 | Confirmed; Wiktionary has "Gibun" as an alternative form of "kibun". A good echo. |
| Osol is Portuguese "o sol" | Confirmed as an echo (K); but Slovak "donkey" and Sundanese "incite to evil" also exist. Not a clean win. |
| Ajik near Hindi "ajeeb" | Cleared: the sounds differ and the Hindi word is not a brand or slur echo (K). |
New findings beyond the lead's list: 물살 has a body-flab slang sense (Blocked); 달님 is President Moon's nickname (Blocked); 팔랑귀 ("easily persuaded") shadows Pallang; 반달 is the Korean spelling of "vandal" (Bandal); 노랑이 means a miser (Norang); SiJak is a puzzle game at 5K+ downloads (Sijak).
3. Queries (to re-run)
All run 2026-10-13 with curl; pacing per the brief.
bash
# Wiktionary language headings (2.5 s apart; send a User-Agent or it rate-limits)
curl -s -A "Mozilla/5.0 (research)" "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/api.php?action=parse&prop=sections&format=json&page=irang"
curl -s -A "Mozilla/5.0 (research)" "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=irang&action=raw"
# Urban Dictionary
curl -s "https://api.urbandictionary.com/v0/define?term=irang"
# Japanese App Store (3 s apart)
curl -s "https://itunes.apple.com/search?entity=software&limit=50&country=jp&term=irang"
# Google Play (5 s apart; titles sit in span.DdYX5 inside each details link; "No results for" marks an empty search)
curl -s -A "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 Chrome/124 Safari/537.36" "https://play.google.com/store/search?q=irang&c=apps&hl=en&gl=US"
curl -s -A "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 Chrome/124 Safari/537.36" "https://play.google.com/store/search?q=irang&c=apps&hl=ko&gl=KR"
curl -s -A "Mozilla/5.0 ..." "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.effectshouse.sijak&hl=en&gl=US" # download band
# 우리말샘 exact match
curl -s -A "Mozilla/5.0 ..." "https://opendict.korean.go.kr/search/searchResult?query=%EC%9D%B4%EB%9E%91&wordMatch=Y&dicType=1"
# 나무위키 (no -L: a 302 means no page of its own; 200 means a page)
curl -s -A "Mozilla/5.0 ..." -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code} %{redirect_url}\n" "https://namu.wiki/w/%EC%9D%B4%EB%9E%91"
# Naver slang scan
curl -s -A "Mozilla/5.0 ..." -H "Accept-Language: ko-KR" "https://search.naver.com/search.naver?query=%22%EC%9D%B4%EB%9E%91%22+%EC%9D%80%EC%96%B4+%EB%B9%84%EC%86%8D%EC%96%B4+%EB%9C%BB"Meaning-clear
Clear:
Ajik 아직 Milmul 밀물 Ojik 오직
Usable with conditions:
Sallang 살랑 Dorang 도랑 Irang 이랑 Gibun 기분 Dolpa 돌파 Balpan 발판 Pallang 팔랑 Bandal 반달 Danbi 단비 Dabok 다복 Chorong 초롱 Norang 노랑 Machim 마침 Dadok 다독 Tuji 투지 Osol 오솔 Jasin 자신