TEN TERE TENTENTEN

What happened

SHINee's channel posted a video titled 텐 테레 텐텐텐 (ten tere ten-ten-ten), a rhythmic phrase that repeats 텐 (ten), the Hangul spelling of TEN's name. The tags list TEN, MINHO and Makeithot, including MINHO_Makeithot. The auto captions pick up 핫 (hat, "hot" spelled in Hangul) and 열기처럼 (yeolgi-cheoreom, "like the heat").

Why Koreans care

The 텐 (ten) repeated in the title is how TEN's name is written in Hangul. It is also how the English number "ten" is written, so the same syllable is both a name and the number 10. That is a fact about the spelling, not a claim that the video intends the wordplay.

In the Korean comments

Three comments play with the title's beat. One reads, in translation, "Ten tere ten-ten-ten, Ming miri ming-ming-ming, both of them are so cute." The second line keeps the same beat with 밍 (ming) where 텐 (ten) stood, which looks like a sound taken from Minho's name. Another reads, in translation, "Good to see you, Ten-tere-ten-ten-ten-ten-ten-nim, and Choi Minho's legs!!!" A third respells the chant with tensed consonants as 텐테레뗀뗀뗀 (ten-te-re-tten-tten-tten). Four comments single out the ending. One reads, in translation, "Lol, the ending, 10, so cute lol," with a pointing-finger emoji and a raised-fist emoji after the number. Another asks, in translation, "Did they make a 1 and a 0 with their hands at the end?" A third says, in translation, "Both of them, the ending's cute lol." A fourth says, in translation, "So cute, ten-ten at the end." Only commenters describe the hand shape, and one of them phrases it as a question. Treat "1 and 0" as their reading, not a confirmed detail. A 10 would match the number that 텐 (ten) also names. One more comment reads, in translation, "The growing sound of a heartbeat, filling up~ The choreography here is so, so, so good!!!!" It does not say which part of the video "here" refers to.

What the words mean

님 (nim) is an honorific suffix, close to "Mr." or "Ms." but gender-neutral, that goes after a name or title. One comment attaches it to the whole chant, 텐테레텐텐텐텐텐님 (ten-te-re-ten-ten-ten-ten-ten-nim), so the chant is greeted like a person's name. It adds 반가워유 (bangawoyu), a softened, playful version of "good to see you". The register is affectionate joking, not formal. 형 (hyeong) literally means "older brother". It is also what a man or boy calls an older male he is close to, related or not. One comment says 샤이니형아들이 텐을 너무 좋아해 (SHINee-hyeongadeul-i Ten-eul neomu joahae, "the SHINee hyungs like Ten so much"). 형아들 (hyeongadeul) is a cutesy plural of 형 (hyeong). Another comment writes 민호형 (Minho-hyeong). In both, the word signals closeness and that the person is older, not a family tie.