From an alteration of 재민 (jaemin, “a common boy's name”), where its initial character was replaced with a similar sounding 잼 (jaem) (a contraction of 재미 (jaemi, “fun”)). The last syllable is 이 (-i, suffix attached to consonant-final personal names).
In its initial conception, the term did not carry a negative connotation. Instead, it was a neutral term for all school-age children, especially male elementary schoolers. However, it soon developed a negative connotation referring to school-age children, typically on the internet, displaying frowned-upon behaviour.
| Romanizations | |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization? | jaemmini |
| Revised Romanization (translit.)? | jaemmin'i |
| McCune–Reischauer? | chaemmini |
| Yale Romanization? | caymmin.i |
잼민이 • (jaemmini)
Although this word is practically never found in its bare *잼민 (*jaemmin) form, the usual rules of 이 (-i, suffix attached to consonant-final personal names) still apply, meaning that the vocative form of this word is still 잼민아 (jaemmin-a), not *잼민이야 (*jaemmini-ya).
Because of the etymology, some people associate this word specifically with boys, thus using the coordinate 잼순이 (jaemsuni) for girls. However, this usage is less common.