한국 카페가 최고인 이유 세 가지

What does “sajangnim” mean in Korean?

사장 is literally the president of a company, and 사장님 adds the honorific 님. On the street it stretches much further: it is what you call whoever runs a café, a market stall or a restaurant, and it is a safe, slightly flattering way to address an older man whose role you can’t place. Korean avoids a bare “you,” so it hands out job titles instead.

The clip credits 카페 사장님들 with designing such beautiful rooms. Other titles work the same way: 기사님 for a driver, 이모 (“auntie”) for the woman serving your food, 선생님 (“teacher”) as a general polite address for an adult. 저기요 gets someone’s attention; a title is what keeps the rest of the exchange respectful.