깍두기

Watched a silly bowling competition between some of my Kpop boys. One was chosen to be the 깍두기 "kkakdugi" - a neutral player who could be called on by either team. Naturally, whenever there was some ridiculous penalty like having to bowl with ice down your shirt or a hot pepper in your mouth, he was the chosen victim. Anyway, I looked up "kkakdugi", and it literally means "radish kimchi". I have no idea why. Perhaps a distant cousin to "chopped liver"?