Hangul syllable Jjal

짤 is Korean online shorthand for a shareable image or clip. It covers still pictures, GIFs, and short videos used as a joke, reaction, or meme. The term names the shared visual; it does not itself supply the emotion.

Around 2002, users of DC Inside, a Korean digital-camera community with image-based boards, attached even unrelated funny pictures so text posts would not be deleted. 짤방 shortened 짤림 방지, “preventing a post from being cut or deleted.” The name later shifted from that workaround to the image itself. By around 2010, some boards could attach an automatic image, so the old prevention purpose had faded.

How does 짤 differ from 밈?

짤 names a visual item; 밈 is the broader cultural format. They overlap when an image circulates as a meme, but 짤 points to the particular picture or clip.

Modifiers specify what kind of visual: 인생짤 is a standout personal image, 합성짤 an edited composite, and 희귀짤 a rare one. 움짤 labels a moving image, while 짤줍 means saving or collecting one.

What does 짤 mean when someone sends it?

It points to the visual being requested or discussed. 짤 좀 보내줘 means “send me a 짤”; 이 짤 뭐야? asks “what is this 짤?”—usually its source, context, or joke.

짤 is casual Korean internet vocabulary, natural in chats and online communities. In formal writing, 사진 (“photo”) or 이미지 (“image”) is clearer; a reader unfamiliar with online Korean may recognize the Hangul but miss the slang.