Has your mind ever been blown when you discovered the origin, or maybe the meaning of a word?
I remember my dad chortling as he told me when he was younger his very prim and proper aunts used to utter the term “brass monkey weather”, oblivious to its origin as an abbreviation of the rather crude “cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey”! They are probably turning in their graves; God rest their souls.
Spending most of my days with words, it’s fortunate that I find them and their origins kinda interesting.
But my mind was blown when I read a story on BBC Sport about the obscure rise of the term “Leeds days” in the Korean language. It does have a direct Korean translation. I won’t attempt to write it here (different alphabet and all that), but I’m sure you can Google it.
What does Leeds days mean?
So, what does Leeds days mean?
You’d never guess it in a million years, but Leeds days means: the prime of your life or career, your pinnacle. It may be used to lightly rib someone older that they are past it; or used on the self to wistfully think back to halcyon days.
Originally, from obscure origins, it is totally mainstream now in Korea, with the younger generation even apparently dropping “days” from the phrase for the more succinct “Leeds” – in Korean of course.
But why has a northern landlocked English city, relatively obscure internationally (sorry Leeds), got such a prominent hold on the Korean language? Historically, there are no Yorkshiremen (or women) particularly famous for leaving their stamp on Korea, in the vein of Lawrence of Arabia or Clive of India. And there are no famous Koreans associated with Leeds as far as I am aware.
The answer is where the tale gets really weird!
What is the origin of Leeds days in Korea?
Sorry for non-football fans, although I did say I saw this story on BBC Sport. And it is still interesting. Promise!
The Premier League has been globally popular (and dominant) for more than two decades now, and about 20 years ago, it received a further boost in South Korea, when one of their few stars – Park Ji-sung – signed for Manchester United. They got a tonne of new fans from the Asian nation. At a similar time, a relatively famous Yorkshireman – Alan Smith – also signed.
Smith, with his peroxide blonde lid had been tearing it up for a few years at Leeds. But he was never able to replicate it to the same degree at Manchester United. If I remember correctly, and I’m not checking, he broke his leg horribly quite early on which would have contributed. Legs are quite important to footballers.
Anyway, everything Manchester United was big news to obsessed Korean fans while Park was there, and with the Internet having taken off, one fan observed that Smith was not as good as in his Leeds days.
And the rest is history. It literally spiralled from there; first amongst the footy fans, then into the wider population, and as mentioned earlier through a generation into the modern parlance of 2026 without the “days”. Now it is being picked up on the BBC, maybe there will be a final twist in the tale and it will enter the English language in common usage.
Mad, isn’t it? I told you it was weird.
Evolving language
It’s a great example of how language evolves, and the unexpected turns it can make. Firmly back in the English language, some of the major dictionaries recently released their word of the year for 2025. It’s something I always keep a keen eye on (total word nerd).
This article from Time neatly defines them, but in no particular order they are:
- Oxford Dictionary – Rage bait
- Macquarie Dictionary – AI slop
- Cambridge Dictionary – Parasocial
- Collins Dictionary – Vibe coding
- Dictionary.com – 67
While the explanation/justification of 67 is mildly interesting, just no! Personally, I’m not a fan of vibe coding as a choice either, but the other three are pretty good. One of our work placement students, Freddie, has written an interesting piece about rage bait which I recommend you reading too.
Picking on some of the previous words of the year from the Oxford Dictionary, while they may (or may not) have captured the zeitgeist at the time, we in the office are not convinced that they are not all around to stay. See what you think:
- 😂 (‘Face with Tears of Joy’) – 2015
- Post-truth – 2016
- Youthquake – 2017
- Toxic – 2018
- Climate emergency – 2019
- *No word was chosen – 2020
- Vax – 2021
- Goblin mode – 2022
- Riz – 2023
- Brain rot – 2024
But what does it all mean for copywriting?
It’s a meandering path, and really the journey was the destination for this blog post. However, it’s worth underlying that we do think deeply about the words we choose when writing for our clients. After all, anyone (or now any AI bot), can chuck a load of words down on a page.
But the messaging, how you are positioned in the market, consistency with your tone of voice, even simple things like you using an “s” not a “Z” for a British audience, are all important to various degrees. And together will make a tangible difference to how your business’s marketing is received by the target audience.
Vocabulary is important too, and keeping an eye on the evolving vernacular helps ensure we are always using (or purposefully avoiding) the latest terms to add authenticity to your tone of voice.
So whether it is a one-off marketing campaign or project; or a regular blog or email newsletter, please do keep us in mind for making your words pop! I am always at the end of a phone or keyboard for a chat about your marketing.
