Hello everyone! I'm Loopy! As a K-pop fan, has your feed also been flooded with news about TWICE lately? A while ago, rumors surfaced that Tzuyu might not renew her contract and was preparing to go solo, and then a social media post by Nayeon's mother sparked heated discussions, sending the hearts of thousands of ONCEs on a rollercoaster ride of anxiety!
When following your favorite stars, reading first-hand English news or Twitter (now X) is an essential skill. Today, Loopy will take you through this hot topic about TWICE to learn essential fan terms like "renewing a contract, going solo, and contract expiration" in English all at once, so you can understand foreign media reports and chat with international fans completely barrier-free in the future!
1. Renew a contract
When an idol group's contract is about to expire, what fans care about most is whether everyone will continue together. For "renewing a contract" in English, we use the verb renew, which means "to restore, update," combined with contract to make the most standard expression.
When Taiwanese people talk about renewing a contract, they often translate "continue the contract" literally, which sounds very unnatural in English.
- ✗ Chinglish: continue the contract
- ✓ Authentic expression: renew the contract
TWICE successfully renewed their contracts with JYP Entertainment.
I hope all the members will renew their contracts.
2. Go solo
If a member decides not to renew their contract, or releases their own record alongside group activities, what we often call "going solo" or "solo activities" in Chinese can be perfectly expressed in English as go solo! solo itself means "a performance by one person, alone," and paired with the verb go, it is very vivid and easy to remember.
It is easy to translate going solo as working alone, but international fans actually just use go solo!
- ✗ Chinglish: work alone
- ✓ Authentic expression: go solo
Fans are talking about the rumor that Tzuyu might go solo.
Nayeon was the first member of TWICE to go solo.
3. Contract expires
Contracts always come to an end eventually. When we want to express "contract expiration," the most authentic verb is expire (to run out, come to an end). This word is extremely useful; not only for idol contracts, but also when your KKBOX membership or Netflix subscription expires, this is the word to use.
Many Taiwanese learners translate "the contract time is up" literally, but native speakers actually use the more precise word expire.
- ✗ Chinglish: The contract time is finished.
- ✓ Authentic expression: The contract expires. / The contract is expiring.
TWICE's exclusive contracts are expiring soon, which makes fans nervous.
Here is an additional vocabulary word that frequently appears in celebrity news: exclusive contract. exclusive means "restricted to the person, group, or area concerned," meaning the artist can only work with that agency during the contract period.
4. Fan Essentials! Master the Keywords in One Second
Having learned so many hot vocabulary words today, Loopy has organized a super easy-to-remember "One-Second Keyword Association Table" for you. Next time you read English entertainment news, just look for these core verbs:
- To check contract status: Look for Renew (renewing a contract, continuing the journey) or Expire (expiring, time ticking away).
- To check activity format: Look for Solo (going solo, shining brightly alone) or Exclusive (exclusive contract).
Now that you've learned these, the next time you see K-pop-related English reports, you'll be able to grasp the latest news immediately, and maybe you can even go on Twitter to support your favorite idols in English! See you next time, Keep learning and have fun!