The Reason Koreans Threw Toffees At Their Soccer Team Is Hilarious

South Korea had a mostly shit World Cup, drawing once and losing twice and looking haggard throughout. So when they arrived home this Sunday, BBC explains, "angry fans threw handfuls of sweets at them, which is considered an insult in the country." BBC does not explain that the candies look like dicks, and throwing them apparently means "eat these dicks."

Here's what the candies look like, as explained by the Ask A Korean blog on Monday:

You can... sort of see it? Insomuch as anything really looks like a dick, sure, those can be dicks.

Here's the explanation from the Ask A Korean post:

This is called 엿 [yeot] in Korean. "Toffee" is a solid translation, because that's what yeot is—it is a candy created by solidifying thin strands of syrup. The insult is to say 엿 먹어라, or "eat yeot." Hm, put this long, sticky thing into your mouth? Wonder what that could possibly mean?

Yeot is a bit more broadly used as an expletive than just meaning dicks, but we don't have time for all that. So! Let's impose that reading onto broader coverage, shall we?

From BBC:

South Korea's World Cup team have been pelted with [dicks] after arriving home empty-handed from the World Cup.

...

Its players looked sombre as they arrived at an airport near Seoul, where angry fans threw handfuls of [dicks] at them, which is considered an insult in the country.

From Korea Times US:

"Their decision to not take the best players was as same as telling people who support them to 'eat [dicks],' so I thought it was only fair that [dicks] were returned to them," he explained.

"Am I supposed to eat these [dicks]," said Son Heung-min, as he sadly looked at all those [dicks] on the ground.

From the WSJ:

An angry soccer fan who caused a commotion by throwing [dicks] at the South Korean national team upon its return home from the World Cup has defended his action.

...

"I am denounced for throwing [dicks], but if my action could serve as a chance for Korean soccer to change, I am more than happy to eat [dick] myself."

The man, who was only identified as "Cho" (his family name), is 41. Meaning, a 41-year-old man took time out of his day to rush a bunch of 20-somethings at an airport and to tell them to eat a bunch of dicks. Sports really are a universal language.