"Korean word "Oni"?" Topic

Or that's the closest I can spell it.

My wife has a close Korean friend who calls her "Oni", which she says means something like "Big Sister".

But if I'm not mistaken, that same word in Japanese means "Ogre", and Korean and Japanese apparently have certain similarities.

So has my wife's friend given her a more colorful nickname than she's willing to admit, or is everything on the level? :-)

Thanks.

I thought it meant demon… shows what I know!

It's a respectful form for "older sister" – doesn't have to be blood-relation; and it's pronounced pretty much the same as the Japanese word for demon/ogre. Oni in Korean is used in the femine form – that is by a female to another female. A "younger" dude would address the "older sister" as Nuna – or however it is spelled. Again, this Korean (Hangul).

Hachimantaro – thanks, that's exactly what I needed to know.

Yes it is used not just with older sisters but those who are close friends who are older. My wife has many in the bamboo G-2 network.
VR
James Mattes

James is right. I have a Korean sister in Law. Her Oni came to see her last week.

I think the Korean is pronounced with more of a "Uh-nee" than the long-O sounding Japanese Oni. Again, very subtle – and when they (Koreans) pronounce their words intentionally, it doesn't sound like it "at speed." For instance, when folks ask my wife what her name is, she deliberately enunciates it and it sounds like Sum Me. And inevitiably they reply oh, Sum Me. She corrects them with no, Son Mi. I always tell she's not pronouncing the "n" and of course, I'm always wrong and only hearing what I want to hear (yeah, like what everyone else did )