Back with Tumin

What happened

The SHINee channel posted a clip titled "오랜만에 투민" (oraenmane tumin, roughly "2Min, after a long while"), tagged #TAEMIN, #MINHO and #Makeithot. "2Min" is the pairing nickname for those two SHINee members. The auto-generated captions are rough, and only fragments of the Korean lyrics come through.

In the Korean comments

One comment turns Taemin into a Pokémon: "탬카츄 전광석화" (Taemkachyu jeongwangseokhwa), then "탬카츄 몸통박치기" (Taemkachyu momtongbakchigi). The coined name looks like a blend of 탬 (taem, a shorthand fans use for Taemin) and Pikachu. The other two words are the Korean names of the Pokémon moves Quick Attack and Tackle, written the way a trainer would call out attacks. 전광석화 (jeongwangseokhwa) literally means a flash of lightning and a spark from flint, an idiom for something lightning-fast. Two other comments paint a specific picture. One reads, in translation, "Lee Taemin is like Mowgli and Choi Minho is like Disney's Tarzan." Another, mentioning the dancing, says in translation, "no wonder Minho calls him baby cheese." The nickname is 애기치즈 (aegi chijeu, baby cheese), and that Minho uses it is the commenter's claim. One comment imagines Taemin and Minho putting their heads together to work this out, and says the thought makes it even cuter. That is the commenter's guess. The title and captions say nothing about how it was made.

What the words mean

"투민" (tumin) in the title is built the way it sounds. 투 (tu, Korean spelling of "two") (tu) is the Korean spelling of the English "two". 민 (min) is the syllable that both 태민 (Taemin) and 민호 (Minho) carry, so the word works as fans' shorthand for the pair. It is casual and affectionate, and the comments use it that way. One writes "투민 아랑해" (tumin aranghae, "I love 2Min" in baby-talk spelling). Another writes "투민 기다렸엉" (tumin gidaryeosseong, "I was waiting for 2Min" with a cutesy ending). One comment likens Taemin to a 똥강아지 (ttonggangaji). Literally that is "poop puppy", from 똥 (ttong, poop) and 강아지 (gangaji, puppy). In everyday Korean it is a fond, teasing name for a lively little pup, or for someone who acts like one. The register is casual and affectionate.