Teul-ttak-chung. Over the last five years, I have heard many Korean neologisms for insulting different demographic groups, but this one seems to top all the others. It means more or less how it sounds: denture-wearing elderly people clacking away their artificial teeth as they spew rage at myriad perceived injustices. For example, think about older Korean men you might see on the subway—sometimes drunk in the middle of the day and hurling insults at others who might pass by, generally making a fool out of themselves and being a nuisance to others. On the internet, younger South Koreans have taken to calling such old people as teul-ttak-chung—“denture-clacking vermin.”
