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이모i·mo · Imo
Your mother's sister, and the word customers use for the woman serving them at a restaurant.
것The deal
이모 (i·mo) is your mother's sister. The National Institute of Korean Language's learner's dictionary stops there, but its open dictionary 우리말샘 adds the second life of the word: a friendly way to address a middle-aged woman working in a restaurant. Say it across a 국밥집 and someone turns round.
More about it
It is one of a crowd of words for the same job. In the institute's 2018 survey, people most often used 저기요 (jeo·gi·yo) for a stranger, then 아저씨 or 아줌마, then 여기요 (yeo·gi·yo); staff liked 아저씨 and 아줌마 least and minded 여기요 and 저기요 least (Edaily, 9 July 2018). The linguist Robert Fouser, writing in the Hankyoreh in May 2024, dates the shift: 아줌마 was the word when he learned Korean in 1983, 여기요 took over in the 2000s, and 사장님 is what he hears most now, with 이모 kept for the place you go back to.
The institute's own answer, given to a questioner on 22 December 2025, is that no rule fixes a form of address, and that 여기요 and 저기요 are common and comfortable for both sides because they say nothing about the relationship.
하는 법How to
If you need the server, press the call button on the table first (Visit Korea says every table has one); where there is none, 저기요 or 여기요 works anywhere. 이모 is for when you have been before and she has seen you.
말Lines
Say this
이모, 여기 소주 한 병 더요.
Imo, one more soju here.
You will hear
네, 갈게요.
Yes, coming.
독자People
After reading this, you are
출처Receipts
6 Receipts
- 이모 (우리말샘 검색 결과), National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원), 우리말샘Open
- 이모 (한국어기초사전), National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원), Korean Basic DictionaryOpen
- 식당 직원 호칭 애매할때…'아줌마' 대신 '종업원님' 어때요, Edaily (이데일리), Jul 9, 2018Open
- 아줌마·여기요·사장님?…식당 호칭의 40년 역사 [로버트 파우저, 사회의 언어], Hankyoreh (한겨레), May 23, 2024Open
- 호칭을 정해주세요 (온라인가나다 답변), National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원), Dec 22, 2025Open
- About Korean Food, Visit Korea (Korea Tourism Organization), Apr 3, 2023Open
Last checked Nov 4, 2026.
이어지는 것들Leads to
말 Words · 말사장님sa·jang·nim오늘 올라옴 up today말 Words · 말존댓말jon·daen·malHonorific speech. The endings that change with who you are talking to, and the reason strangers ask your age.말 Words · 말건배GeonbaeCheers, said with the glass raised. The characters mean dry the cup.오늘 올라옴 up today
먹을것 Food and drink · 맛소주SojuKorea's clear spirit, usually a diluted one, drunk in small glasses with grilled pork or a hot soup.오늘 올라옴 up today장소 Places · 화면포장마차스테디 Steadypo·jang·ma·chaA tent on the pavement with plastic stools, soju and something hot. Every drama has a scene in one.
먹을것 Food and drink · 맛소주SojuKorea's clear spirit, usually a diluted one, drunk in small glasses with grilled pork or a hot soup.오늘 올라옴 up today장소 Places · 화면포장마차스테디 Steadypo·jang·ma·chaA tent on the pavement with plastic stools, soju and something hot. Every drama has a scene in one.
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