걔랑은 이미 손절했어

The line, explained

Some friendships end with a long talk. Others end the way this line does, flatly, over coffee: 'I already cut that one off.' The word doing the work is 손절, a piece of slang Koreans borrowed from the stock market. It describes deciding someone is a bad investment and getting out before you lose any more. It sounds cold, and that is the point: the decision is made, and there is nothing left to discuss.

걔 is a casual, slightly offhand way to say 'that person'. It is short for 그 아이, literally 'that kid', but adults use it for friends and acquaintances of any age. 랑 means 'with', the casual version of 하고 or 와. Adding 은 gives contrast: with that one, at least, it is over. Put together, 걔랑은 is 'as for that one'. The ㅇ of 랑 runs into 은, so it sounds like gyae-rang-eun.

이미 means already. It tells you the decision is not fresh or emotional any more. It happened, it is done, and the speaker has moved on. A close word is 벌써, which also means already but often carries surprise: 벌써 했어?, you already did it? 이미 sounds calmer and more final. Next to 손절, it makes the line sound like someone closing a file and putting it away.

손절 is short for 손절매, the stock-market term for selling a stock at a loss so you do not lose more, known in English as a stop-loss. 손 is loss, 절 is cut, and 매 is selling. In slang, it means cutting ties with a person. Use it with 하다: 손절하다, casual past 손절했어. The person can take 랑 or 하고, 'with', or the object marker: 걔를 손절했어. Spin-offs include 손절각, 'grounds to cut someone off', and 손절당하다, to get cut off.

Say it flatly, stirring your coffee: gyae-rang-eun i-mi, then son-jeol-hae-sseo. No drama, no sigh. Then try other ways that story might have ended: 화해했어, we made up; 연락 끊었어, I stopped contacting them; 절교했어, we ended the friendship; 정리했어, I wrapped it up. 손절 is the most modern and casual of these, and the one you will see most in comments and group chats. Just be careful who hears you say it.