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What does “땡” mean in Korean quiz shows?

On a Korean quiz or variety show, a wrong answer earns you one blunt syllable: 땡 (ttaeng). It mimics a struck bell or a game-show buzzer — the audio equivalent of a red X. Its cheery opposite is 딩동댕 (dingdongdaeng), the little three-note chime for “correct!” So 땡 isn’t really a word for a noise; used alone it just means “Nope. Wrong.”

The moment is textbook: asked “한글을 처음 만드신 분은?” (“Who first created Hangul?”), someone blurts 이순신 — Admiral Yi Sun-sin, wrong hero entirely (the answer is King Sejong). Cue 땡, 땡, 땡, three buzzers hammering the miss. A host will often stretch it — “땡~!” — for comic sting. As onomatopoeia it originally imitates a bell or gong strike, which is why the same syllable rings out for both a clock’s toll and a failed answer. Learners hear it constantly in game segments, and BTS even named a 2018 track “땡 (Ddaeng)” leaning on this “you lose / wrong” meaning. Pair it with its partner 딩동댕 and you can score any Korean quiz round out loud.