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Often used in satiric or facetious manners, "Unji" may refer to the following:
1. To physically fall down from high grounds. ex) He unjied from a cliff.
2. To have one's social status decreased. ex) The president unjied after his resignation.
Although words related with death generally are not used widely, this word is widely used because its meaning is quite correct.
Etimology
In the mid 90's, an energy drink branded Unji Chun, produced by by Kwang Dong Pharmaceutical, was introduced in South Korea. The product was named so, due to its main ingredient being Unji mushroom extract. This marked the first occasion in which a term "Unji" was brought to the general public.
The term came to bear the connotation of falling from the position of high altitudes. The meaning arose from the television advertisement of Unji Chun, in which the character throws himself off the cliff while shouting "I'm a man of nature!"
The term disappeared from the public consciousness at its initial introduction. However, it resurfaced as one of the most popular slangs in the Korean language in the 21st century. In 2009, the suicide of the former Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun who was under the investigation for bribing, triggered the rediscovery and interpretation of the term "Unji". Korean Internet users recognized the similarity of Roh's suicide by falling off from the Owl cliff and the character's falling off the cliff in the TV ad of Unji Chun.
Subsequently, Koreans began an Internet meme of relating the term "Unji" with an act off falling from a high position. In postings and parody videos, numerous verbal or visual references to Roh throwing himself off of a rock or cliff, or in the air downwards, were made and circulated. The meme rendered the term into general popularity in Korean society, inducing the general Korean public to redefine and reinterpret the word for new comprehension.
Usage
It is normally used when people physically fall from high altitudes.
'He Unjied'
It is used when grades or points are plummeted.
'KOSPI rapidly Unjied'
'After the scandal with the Anchovy, she unjied'