The album concept is coffee. The song was born over snacks.
Stray Kids are back after nine months. Released on August 7, the mini album THIS & THAT went straight to No. 1 on Hanteo and Circle’s real-time album charts, and topped iTunes Top Albums in 32 regions.
The album concept is coffee. Eight tracks, each rendered as a cup, complete with roast levels and tasting scores. There are handwritten tasting notes too. The one for the title track reads: “This or That? Don’t overthink it — just drink this.”
And that food imagery didn’t start with the album design. According to the members, the title track itself was born while they were sharing snacks during a break. They were saying, “Try some of this, try some of that” — and the phrase turned into the chorus melody right there on the spot.
So the answer this song gives is simple. Pick one? Do we have to? We’ll do this, and that.
Stray Kids “This & That” — Korean Meaning & Lyrics Explained
Intro & Hook — Cappuccino and Americano
(This and that, this and that)
Everything I do multiply it by two
I got this and that, this and that
We could take a coupe or a truck vroom vroom
I got this and that, this and that
Cappuccino and americano
I’ll take this and that, this and that
Imma rip a show and then hit the studio
I do this and that, this and that
The entire hook runs on one structure. Present two options — then take both.
Cappuccino and americano isn’t a random pairing. The whole album runs on a coffee concept, and americano is an especially familiar café order in Korea.
But which one you prefer isn’t the point. Coupe or truck. Cappuccino or americano. Show or studio. The song keeps offering two options and giving the same answer. “I’ll take this and that.” Both.
Of the eight tracks, this title song took the longest to make. The members said arranging the hook lyrics, and choosing exactly which words to put in the “this” and “that” slots, ate up the most time. It sounds simple. That simplicity took the longest.
Verse 1 — Two Bars, or Two Words
Groovy Ha-ge Geo-reo Look at me
Groovy 하게 걸어 look at me
Walking groovy — look at me
I-mi Proved It Du Ma-di-ro Kkeut-naet-ji
이미 proved it 두 마디로 끝냈지
Already proved it — two lines and done
Meo-ri-reul Cooling Da-eum Dan-gye-ro Still Moving
머리를 cooling 다음 단계로 still moving
Cooling my head, still moving to the next level
Stop Denying Du Nun Gam-a-bwa-do Bun-wi-gi Neul Jan-chi
Stop denying 두 눈 감아봐도 분위기 늘 잔치
Stop denying — even with eyes closed, it’s always a party
Ma-di (마디) in du ma-di-ro kkeut-naet-ji (두 마디로 끝냈지) resists a single translation. In music it can mean a bar or a measure. In everyday Korean, it’s a unit of speech — han-ma-di-man hal-ge (한마디만 할게) means “let me say just one thing.”
English translations split on this. Some render it as “two bars,” others as “two words.” Finished it in two bars of rap, or proved himself in a couple of sentences. Which one was intended isn’t documented. In Korean, both readings stay open at once.
Jan-chi (잔치, “feast/celebration”) — in Korea, a janchi is a large gathering where people eat and drink together. Weddings. Sixtieth birthdays. Bun-wi-gi neul jan-chi (분위기 늘 잔치) says the mood is always festive wherever they go. “Party” narrows it. A janchi carries a stronger sense of everyone being there together.
Verse 1 (continued) — Hold the Extra Meddling
Nae-bi-dwo Geu-rae-do Cha-ja-meok-ji Ul Sik-seong-dae-ro
내비둬 그래도 찾아먹지 울 식성대로
Leave us be — we’ll find our own food, our own taste
O-ji-rap Gop-ppae-gi Ppae-jwo Yo-cheong-ran-e Sseo-nwas-seo
오지랖 곱빼기 빼줘 요청란에 써놨어
Hold the extra meddling — I wrote it in the request box
Jal Bwa-jwo Na-was-seo
잘 봐줘 나왔어
Look closely — we’re out
(U-ri-ga Na-was-seo)
(우리가 나왔어)
(We came out)
This is the most Korean line in the song.
O-ji-rap (오지랖) — originally the front flap of an outer garment. In Korean, saying someone’s ojirap is wide means they meddle in things that aren’t their business.
Gop-ppae-gi (곱빼기) — what you ask for when you want a larger-than-usual portion of jjajangmyeon or gukbap. And yo-cheong-ran (요청란) is the “special requests” box in a Korean delivery app.
Three words land in one line. O-ji-rap gop-ppae-gi ppae-jwo yo-cheong-ran-e sseo-nwas-seo (오지랖 곱빼기 빼줘 요청란에 써놨어). Hold the extra-large serving of meddling — I already put it in the request box. He’s rejecting other people’s meddling in the format of a food order. Translate the meaning only and the joke disappears.
Cha-ja-meok-ji ul sik-seong-dae-ro (찾아먹지 울 식성대로) works the same way. Sik-seong (식성) is your taste in food. We’ll feed ourselves, our own way — nobody’s ordering for us.
Pre-Chorus — The Way I Chose
See me rolling
Gol-la-seo Nae-ga Seon-taek-han Dae-ro Flowing
골라서 내가 선택한 대로 flowing
Picking and flowing the way I chose
Won-rae Ga-go Si-peun Dae-ro I run it run it run it
원래 가고 싶은 대로 I run it run it run it
Going where I wanted all along — I run it
Yeah we
(I-geot-jeo-geot Da)
(이것저것 다)
(This and that, all of it)
I-geot-jeo-geot (이것저것) — literally this thing and that thing. All sorts.
The phrase isn’t negative on its own. But in constructions like i-geot-jeo-geot son-dae-da (이것저것 손대다, “dabbling in this and that”) or i-geot-jeo-geot beo-ryeo-no-ta (이것저것 벌여놓다, “starting this and that”), it can pick up a sense of scattering yourself across too many things.
Stray Kids flip that possibility. They do this and that — not because they’re unfocused, but because they can handle both. I-geot-jeo-geot da (이것저것 다) becomes a statement of range instead of a weakness.
Verse 2 — Ppaet-ji, Patch, Patty, Badge
Won-hae Deo Meom-chul Su Eom-neun Challenge
원해 더 멈출 수 없는 challenge
I want more — a challenge that can’t stop
Hot and cold Mwo-deun Gwaen-chan-a No damage
Hot and cold 뭐든 괜찮아 no damage
Hot and cold, either is fine — no damage
I ain’t getting no pain
I’ll show you the way
I got no shame and I’m
Hot and cold mwo-deun gwaen-chan-a (Hot and cold 뭐든 괜찮아). Given the coffee concept, hot and iced coffee are an easy read.
But it doesn’t have to be coffee. The song keeps putting two ends on the table. Fast or slow. Coupe or truck. Cappuccino or americano. Hot or cold. Either is fine. The structure repeats: there’s no need to pick just one.
I-geot-jeo-geot Ready Doen Ji I-mi O-rae-dwaet-ji
이것저것 ready 된 지 이미 오래됐지
Been ready for this and that for a long time
Yeah Ji-ru-ham-eun Ppaet-ji
Yeah 지루함은 뺐지
Yeah, took the boredom out
Geu-geon O-rae-jeon-e Patch
그건 오래전에 패치
That got patched a long time ago
Nae Rap-eun Go-gi Patty
내 랩은 고기 패티
My rap is the meat patty
Jeol-dae Ppa-jil Su Eom-get-ji
절대 빠질 수 없겠지
Can never be left out
Nae Oen-jjok Ga-seum-sok-e Bak-hin Stray Kids Badge
내 왼쪽 가슴속에 박힌 Stray Kids 배지
The Stray Kids badge pinned inside my left chest
The interesting part isn’t just patch and patty.
Ppaet-ji. Patch. Patty. Badge.
Four words linked by a similar vowel pattern and rhythm, while the consonants keep shifting.
Ji-ru-ham-eun ppaet-ji (지루함은 뺐지) says the boredom is already out. Patch, the next word, is what you call a fix or update in games and software — that change happened long ago. Then nae rap-eun go-gi patty (내 랩은 고기 패티): you can’t take the meat patty out of a burger, and you can’t take his rap out either. And it lands on Stray Kids badge (Stray Kids 배지). A chain of sound that starts at ppaet-ji runs through patch and patty and arrives at badge — at his own identity.
Verse 2 (continued) — The Scent in Our Footprints
Bal-ja-chwi-e Nam-eun Che-chwi Chae-chwi Hae-seo Kkum-eul Sketch
발자취에 남은 체취 채취해서 꿈을 sketch
Collecting the scent left in our footprints, sketching a dream
Let’s get it Gi-hoel Catch
Let’s get it 기횔 catch
Let’s get it — catch the chance
Seong-gong-gwa-ui Matching
성공과의 matching
Matching with success
Deo Bo-yeo-jul Geo Eom-nya-neun Neo-e-ge
더 보여줄 거 없냐는 너에게
To you, asking if we have anything left to show
(I-geot-jeo-geot Da)
(이것저것 다)
(This and that, all of it)
Bal-ja-chwi (발자취) / che-chwi (체취) / chae-chwi (채취) — three words in a row. Footprints, body scent, and the act of gathering. All three end on the same sound: chwi.
The meaning runs with the sound. Gather what’s left along the path you’ve walked, and sketch the next dream from it. This is the stretch where Korean rhyme carries the sense forward instead of decorating it.
Bridge — If You Can’t Choose
We can go fast, we can go slow
If you can’t choose, you can have both
Can’t stop us now (Go)
This is the whole song in one line.
If you can’t choose, take both.
The tasting note on the tracklist shows the same attitude, though it lands somewhere slightly different: “This or That? Don’t overthink it — just drink this.” The note tells you to grab one. The song goes a step further.
If you can’t choose, you can have both.
What Does “O-ji-rap Gop-ppae-gi” (오지랖 곱빼기) Mean in “This & That”?
O-ji-rap (오지랖) is unsolicited meddling — sticking your nose into things that aren’t yours. Gop-ppae-gi (곱빼기) is a double portion, what you order when you want extra noodles in your jjajangmyeon. And yo-cheong-ran (요청란) is the “special requests” box in a Korean delivery app.
Put together, the line reads: hold the extra-large serving of other people’s opinions. I already left a note about it.
It’s the funniest line in the song, and the one that disappears most completely in translation.
What Is Stray Kids’ “This & That” Really About?
“This & That” is about refusing the premise that you only get one. Not choice itself — the song is full of choosing. What it rejects is being handed two options and told to pick.
Fast or slow. Cappuccino or americano. Stage or studio. To Stray Kids, the question itself is wrong — because there’s no reason to pick just one.
And that attitude runs through how the lyrics are built. Meddling becomes a delivery app request. A rap verse becomes a burger patty. Boredom becomes a software patch. Korean wordplay and English flow, running at the same time.
They said they do this and that. Then they proved it in the writing.
CORTIS writes and produces their own music too — and their lyrics are hard to decode even for Korean listeners:
CORTIS GREENGREEN — 6 Tracks That Tell You Everything About This Group
CORTIS “RedRed” Full Lyrics Explained — Every Line Broken Down
CORTIS “TNT” Korean Lyrics Explained — What the Translation Misses
CORTIS “YOUNGCREATORCREW” Meaning — Teppanyaki on My Mac, Explained
BOYNEXTDOOR’s first full-length album HOME carries emotions that don’t survive translation:
BOYNEXTDOOR “VIRAL” Lyrics Explained — It’s Not a Breakup Song
BOYNEXTDOOR “ADIOS!” — Why the Same Rain Feels Different
BOYNEXTDOOR “Forever You (기억해줘요)” — What the Korean Actually Says
The BTS ARIRANG album hides more Korean meaning than most listeners catch:
BTS “Aliens” Lyrics Explained — What the Translation Misses
BTS “Body to Body” Lyrics Explained — Arirang Meaning & Korean References
BTS “2.0” Lyrics Explained — What the Korean Actually Says
Which line lost the most in translation for you? Drop it in the comments — I’ll cover it in the next breakdown.
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