90 Day Fiancé fans were shook when they learned Nick Ham’s nickname for now-wife Devin Hoofman is “piggy.” He claims it is normal in Korea and now someone on Reddit is coming to his defense.
We explain the complexities of the “piggy” moniker below…
Devin and Nick
Devin Hoofman and Nick Ham were featured on season 10 of 90 Day Fiancé. Ham hails from South Korea while Hoofman lives with her family in rural Searcy, Arkansas. Ham moved to Arkansas on the K1 Visa in 2023 and the pair documented his arrival on the TLC reality show.
In October Starcasm announced exclusively that Devin and Nick had gotten married after their K1 had been delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic. While some love the quiet, cute couple… some take a major offence to Ham’s nickname for his wife.
30-year-old Nick (real name Seungdo) calls 23-year-old Devin “piggy.”
Piggy on 90 Day Fiancé
The nickname “piggy” had people shook – from fans, to Devin’s family, to everyone on the cast during 90 Day Fiancé Couples Tell All which just finished airing. It was then that Nick was put in the hot seat over the controversial nickname, raising eyebrows even more when Devin showed up looking extra-slender to the reunion.
Am I the only one concerned about Devin’s weight loss??
Nick calling her piggy straight up gave her an ED 😢 #90DayFiance #90dayfiancetellall pic.twitter.com/XFmvkQjd6N
— 90 Day Cray (@90DayCray) March 4, 2024
#90DayFiance I just made a tweet before this one about how thin Devin looks like she’s got an eating disorder, did you notice the food that they were all eating? She was the only one that had nothing but lettuce in her container. Way to go Nick calling her piggy
— Sweet T (@Sweet_T_1969) March 4, 2024
After I had my son I weighed 135lbs. My ex husband called me wide load, fat ass and other names. I dropped to 93 pounds and I’m 5’7” Seeing Devin so thin makes me think eating disorder. Being called Piggy is not love. I really hope she’s okay. #90DayFiance #90dayfianceTheTellAll
— She-Bells (@SherryElls) March 4, 2024
Daeji in Korean explained
Is “piggy” offensive or is this just a cultural misunderstanding? While it may be hard for Americans to digest… Reddit user AfterMorningHours is coming to Ham’s defense (okay we can’t not say it… HAM… HOOFman… PIGGY?!???)
In Nick’s defense, piggy (or daeji in Korean) is a common term of endearment
byu/AfterMorningHours in90DayFiance
According to the post, it is common in the South Korean culture to refer to loved ones as “daeji” or “fat pig”:
In Nick’s defense, piggy (or daeji in Korean) is a common term of endearment It only takes a quick google search to find an example here, https://reddit.com/r/Korean/comments/k8z6mv/is_%EB%98%A5%EB%8F%BC%EC%A7%80_ddong_daeji_a_common_nickname/
Apparently it’s especially common in the older generation to call their younger kids this (even worse, 뚱돼지 /”fat pig” lol), and it’s not uncommon for partners to call each other this. Nick is not lying y’all! This is just an actual cultural difference lol and it doesn’t seem to bother Devin at all.
In the now deleted post mentioned in the comment above, another user had said:
Is 똥돼지 (ddong daeji) a common nickname? My mom is korean, but she never taught me the language. Growing up, she would often call me by the nickname 똥돼지. She always told me that it was what you called your favorite kid (Im an only child) and it meant that she loved me very much. I just looked up the definition out of boredom and it means shit pig. I have no clue if this is some weird long term joke she had with herself or a cultural gap Im not getting.
Sound off! Is piggy offensive or just part of Nick’s culture? We are torn on this one…
Ashley Marie is a writer for Starcasm and the personality behind Twitter’s @RealityByAshley. You can contact Ashley via Twitter or email at realitybyashley(at)gmail.com
