Korean · Insults & Asymmetries
엿 먹어라
yeot meogeora
yut MUH-guh-rah · /jʌt̚ mʌ.ɡʌ.ɾa/
Screw you / shove it — an order to eat candy, meaning anything but.
aimed at a person, will start something
Literally
"eat yeot (a traditional stiff taffy)"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
Korea's "screw you," dressed as a snack recommendation: 엿 is a traditional taffy, and telling someone to eat it is pure hostility — this is the curse the middle-finger entry is tied to, and a fighting-words 4 aimed at anyone. The story Koreans tell about it: in 1964, a middle-school entrance exam asked what turns starch into yeot, marked the answer 무즙 (radish juice) wrong even though radish juice works, and furious parents marched on the education authorities with pots of yeot they'd boiled from radish juice, shouting "엿 먹어라!" — eat this and tell us it's wrong. By the usual telling that scandal welded the phrase into the national vocabulary, though its rude undertones are older. File it next to the finger: comprehension always, deployment only when you mean it.
Heard in the wild
그딴 조건으로 계약하라고? 엿 먹어라 그래.
They want you to sign on THOSE terms? Tell them to shove it.
Where it lands
South Korea (universal)
Quick answers
- What does "엿 먹어라" mean?
- In Korean, "엿 먹어라" means "Screw you / shove it — an order to eat candy, meaning anything but.". Literally it's "eat yeot (a traditional stiff taffy)". Korea's "screw you," dressed as a snack recommendation: 엿 is a traditional taffy, and telling someone to eat it is pure hostility — this is the curse the middle-finger entry is tied to, and a fighting-words 4 aimed at anyone. The story Koreans tell about it: in 1964, a middle-school entrance exam asked what turns starch into yeot, marked the answer 무즙 (radish juice) wrong even though radish juice works, and furious parents marched on the education authorities with pots of yeot they'd boiled from radish juice, shouting "엿 먹어라!" — eat this and tell us it's wrong. By the usual telling that scandal welded the phrase into the national vocabulary, though its rude undertones are older. File it next to the finger: comprehension always, deployment only when you mean it.
- Is "엿 먹어라" offensive?
- Yes — very. It rates 4/5 on the Punch-o-Meter (Fighting words). aimed at a person, will start something. Read the usage note before you even think about it.
- How do you pronounce "엿 먹어라"?
- Say it "yut MUH-guh-rah" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: jʌt̚ mʌ.ɡʌ.ɾa.
Related in Korean
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "Screw you".
- French Enculé ! Motherf***er / bastard (one of the hardest personal insults)
- German Verpiss dich! Piss off! / Clear off (with force)!
- Greek άντε γαμήσου Go fuck yourself / get lost / piss off.
- Italian Vaffanculo! Fuck off! / Go to hell!
- Japanese クソ野郎 Piece of shit / shitty bastard
- Polish ty kurwo You whore / you bitch — the aimed kurwa, a different animal entirely.
- Portuguese Filho da puta Son of a bitch / bastard
- Russian Средний палец Screw you / the finger
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