KPOP Meaning
Shipping means imagining or hoping that two people are in a romantic relationship, and a "ship" is the pairing itself. The Cambridge Dictionary defines to ship as imagining or hoping that real people or story characters are in a romantic relationship, or being very interested in two real people's relationship; as a noun, a ship is such a relationship, especially one approved of or imagined by fans, and it may be real or exist only in fiction. Its examples note that people who ship a couple often create fan art or write fanfiction about them.
Usage
Used for fan pairings, e.g. "my favorite ship". Even when the pair are real people, shipping itself is not evidence that they are dating.
Examples
- Fans who ship a pair often draw fan art or write fanfiction about them.
- As in the Cambridge Dictionary example "Theirs is one of the most popular ships in fandom culture", the noun ship names the pairing itself.
In context
Sources
- Cambridge Dictionary: ship
What we checked
ship (verb, RELATIONSHIP) = to imagine or hope that real people or characters in a story are in a romantic relationship, or to be very interested in two real people's relationship: People who ship a couple often create fan art or write fanfiction about them. ship (noun, informal) = a relationship between real people or characters in a story, especially one that is approved of or imagined by fans: Theirs is one of the most popular ships in fandom culture. A ship can be a real-life relationship, or one that exists only in fiction.