About

Gwenchana or Gwenchanayo (괜찮아, 괜찮아요 in Korean) is a prevalent Korean slang expression that translates to "Are you okay?" or "It’s fine!" depending on intonation. The expression is often used in K-Drama series and became a viral sound on TikTok in early September 2023, with users posting ironic memes, comedy skits and funny videos based on the Korean catchphrase.

Origin

괜찮아 or Gwenchana^[1] means, “I’m alright,” “It’s fine,” “It’s fine with me,” “I’m ok” or “It’s alright.” The expression can used in many ways, depending on the context of a conversation. For example, if someone asks if you’re okay, you can simply just say, “gwenchana,” meaning "I'm alright."

The popularization of Korean drama TV series, also known as K-Drama, made the "gwenchana" expression achieve global recognition. One of the earliest examples of the expression becoming a viral meme comes from a scene from the series "Welcome to Waikiki". On June 19th, 2020, YouTube^[2] user @kdramamaniac2906 posted the scene featuring a character repeatedly saying “gwenchana” as “It’s fine” to calm his friends (shown below). The video garnered over 774,000 views and 22,000 likes in three years.

Spread

On September 11th 2023, TikTok^[3] user @imeringue2 posted a video saying the expression in several tones accompanied by Melody of Memories^[4] by Joel Christian (shown below). The video quickly went viral on the platform, garnering over 72 million plays, 9 million likes and more than 96,000 other videos using the sound.

Later that same day, TikTok^[5] user grprm._ posted a version captioned with the text "my feeling right now", receiving over 26 million plays, 3 million likes (shown below, left). On September 15th, 2023, TikTok^[6] user @rydrayn posted the video of a sad cat paired with the viral sound (shown below, right), which received over 46 million plays and 9 million likes in two weeks.

On September 23rd, 2023, YouTube^[7] user @piximilie uploaded a green-screen video version of the viral TikTok sound (shown below). The post garnered roughly 770 views and 18 likes in a week.

One other viral usage of the catchphrase was posted by TikToker^[8] @bellembun on September 18th, 2023, in which he sings some of the notes of the background music, and adds some crying sounds while repeatedly saying "Gwenchana." The video (shown below) amassed over 38 million plays and 4 million likes in six months.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References