Lisa Lim

Language Matters | Apateu may soon enter English lexicon thanks to APT, hit song by Rosé and Bruno Mars

Many Korean words have recently been added to English, and ‘apeteu’ may follow them now APT is a global hit with music fans

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A post on K-pop singer and Blackpink member Rose’s Instagram account shows a promotional image for her hit single “APT” featuring Bruno Mars (2024).

Lisa Lim

Published: 4:10pm, 2 Dec 2024

Silence enveloped South Korea a fortnight ago as half a million students sat the eight-hour national university entrance exam. During this time, to aid their concentration car honking is discouraged, construction work is paused, and even airliners are grounded; certain too-catchy tunes are forbidden to air too.

However, one thing was probably still playing in people’s heads – “Apateu apateu / apateu apateu …,” the addictive refrain to the chart-topping song “APT” by South Korean singer Rosé of Blackpink and American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars.

Released as the lead single of Rosé’s debut studio album, the pop-punk track with a punchy beat soon had listeners dancing, and many delighted in the fact that the song is based on a traditional Korean drinking game.

As all fans know well by now, “APT” stands for 아파트 “apateu” in Korean English, or Konglish, meaning “apartment”.

Rosé and Bruno Mars performed their song APT live for the first time at the MAMA Awards show in Osaka, Japan, on November 22. Its refrain has become a global earworm. Photo: Instagram/@mnet_mama

Most accounts have explained that the Korean English apateu came – clipped and restructured – from the English word “apartment”. Its complete route into the lexicon and the reasons for it are in fact more complex and interesting.