도나의 편의점 먹방 도전

*What does “먹방” (meokbang) mean, and why is it in English

This clip is a 먹방 (meokbang) — a convenience-store food challenge working through spicy fire-chicken tteokbokki, cheese powder, and a “ghost pepper” dare. The word blends 먹다 (“to eat”) with 방송 (“broadcast”): literally, “eating broadcast.” Born on Korean live-streaming platforms in the early 2010s, it names a whole genre — someone eating, often a lot and often spicy, on camera for an audience.

먹방 spread so far beyond Korea that the Oxford English Dictionary added it as an English word in 2021, with citations tracing English-language use back to 2013. The genre ranges from calm home cooking to spectacle eating and spice challenges like this one — the appeal is watching someone else’s reaction to food you can almost taste through the screen.