얼짱 means something like 'top face' and is presumably a contraction of '얼굴' with '짱'.
몸짱 Also seems to be possible (seeming to refer to bodybuilders!)
Is this form restricted to these cases, or are others possible?
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1SM Entertainment used to have a public audition-contest where they awarded "노래짱", "댄스짱', "외모짱", and "연기짱'. "-짱" seems to be a very productive suffix.– IgnatiusMar 26, 2019 at 11:32
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2 Answers
Where the word '짱' originates is not known for sure. Some say it was derived from '장군 장 (將)' which means a general (in the military) and '장 (not 짱)' was used to describe a student who fought the best in a fist fight among students in middle and high school and the pronunciation changed from [장] to [짱] to make it sound stronger.
When you hear "철수가 이 학교에서 짱이래," it means
I heard 철수 is the best (fist) fighter in this school.
Some say it was derived from '길 장 (長)' which means long, head (of a group), an (oldest) adult.
Whatever the etymology is, you can put it virtually anywhere such as
몸매짱 (best body especially for women), 싸움짱 (best fighter), 얼굴짱 (best face, most handsome or beautiful man/woman), 냄세짱 (best smell), 소리짱 (best sound), 노래짱 (best song/signer), 대한민국짱 (Korea is the best), etc.
"짱" is slang meaning "the best". You can use it by itself:
이거 짱이에요 (This is the best) (from Naver Dictionary)
It is often added to other words to make new slang words, though perhaps most of them don't catch on as widely as 얼짱 and 몸짱. This list includes a few:
춤짱, 킹왕짱, 노짱
