So what’s the difference between 아저씨 (Ahjussi) and 오빠 (Oppa) in Korean.
This is an 아저씨
and this is an 오빠
Apologies to PSY but he even has a song called “아저씨 swag”.
아저씨, according to the dictionary, is
used to call a male adult, when you normally have no special relationship with the person.
It also says in the dictionary that if you want to show respect, you do not use this term.
You usually use it to a middle aged man, so it’s OK for children to use 아저씨 to their friends’ parents.
But it’s not OK to use it to a young man in his 20s.
You can use it to a middle aged man on the streets as well,
but it generally gives a sense of impoliteness, so I recommend not to use 아저씨 to a stranger.
I’d rather use 실례합니다 (Sillye-hamnida) which means excuse me.
오빠 has two different usages.
First, it is used to call your older brother,
or second, it is used to call a boy or man who is older than you.
In both cases, only girls and women can use 오빠.
When it is used for the second purpose to someone who is not your brother, the term itself shows great intimacy.
Sometimes, it even has implications of flirting.
So you would hardly ever use this term to your client, or a random person on the streets.
But still, I would advocate that these guys can be your 오빠s.
![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/y280Q8Kku-A/maxresdefault.jpg)