굴소스로 하는 아재개그 한마디

What does “아재개그” mean in Korean?

아재개그 (ajae gaegeu) is Korea’s version of the dad joke: a groan-worthy pun so corny it loops back to charming. The real payoff hides in the first half — 아재 is the Gyeongsang-dialect, clipped form of 아저씨, the everyday word for a middle-aged “uncle.” So it literally means “uncle gags,” the cheesy homophone wordplay that dads and older men can’t resist. 개그 is just English “gag,” borrowed straight in.

The clip runs a textbook 아재개그: “What does a mom say when her kid eats 굴소스 (oyster sauce)?” The “answer” is just the product’s own name read back off the bottle — delivered as 굴쏘써 (gul-sso-sseo), a deliberate sound-alike of 굴소스. That’s the entire gag: the punchline is basically the setup word said with a silly twist, so it lands on anticlimax and mild cringe rather than cleverness — and a host teasingly asks a guest to deliver it as smoothly as idol 차은우 (Cha Eunwoo). That groan is the point. 아재 on its own is affectionate-teasing slang for an older guy (short for 아저씨), and the borrowed 개그 also gives you 개그맨 (gaegeumaen), a professional comedian.