영미 - 김은정

Young-mee - Kim Eun-jeong

This meme gained significant popularity around February 2018, during the curling events of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. At that time, the excellent performance of the Korean women's curling team, combined with skip Kim Eun-jeong's charismatic game instructions, garnered explosive public attention and became a nationwide catchphrase.

"Yeongmi" is a shout used by Kim Eun-jeong, the skip of the Korean women's curling team, to instruct her teammate Kim Yeong-mi during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. This shout is not just a name; it carries complex instructions for adjusting the speed and intensity of sweeping, depending on Kim Eun-jeong's voice volume and intonation. For example, "Yeongmi~" means to start sweeping, "Yeongmi! Yeongmi!" means to sweep quickly, and "Yeongmi~ Yeongmi~" means to wait. Additionally, "Yeongmi, Hul" (헐) was used as a shortened form of the English phrase 'Hurry up' to mean "sweep quickly," and "Yeongmi, Up" meant to stop sweeping and wait. Kim Eun-jeong's glasses, serious expression, and concise yet powerful instructions, combined, earned her the nickname 'Glasses Senior' (안경선배) and immense popularity.

The "Yeongmi" meme became known through the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, a national sporting event, and was widely consumed by men and women of all ages, regardless of age or gender. It gained particular popularity among the general public watching sports and curling fans, and was actively mentioned across various media and online communities. Among some game fans, Kim Eun-jeong's sharp eyes and charismatic appearance reminded them of a specific game character, leading to nicknames like 'Vayne Noona' (베인누나) and 'Vayne Jwa' (베인좌).

• Kim Eun-jeong shouting "Yeongmi! Yeongmi! Yeongmi! Hul!" to Kim Yeong-mi to instruct sweeping during a curling match is the most representative example of its use.
• Another famous example is Kim Eun-jeong, who revealed herself to be a fan of SHINee's Taemin, expressing her fandom by shouting "Taemin! Taemin, Taemin! You must come!"
• On YouTube, music parody videos like "Yeongmi Metal" using Kim Eun-jeong's shouts, or parody videos by creators like TtuaTtujiTV wearing glasses and imitating curling movements, were also produced.
• Some companies also capitalized on the meme's popularity by creating parody advertisements.