[decorativeed]

Any members from the old TR (official) boards might remember a thread about a certain term/name for our club (often used by foreign fans) that is frowned upon by older and local fans.

Do we have a similar thread or rule in place here. I always appreciated that fans from further away from Manchester could learn about the history of the club and of why that term is so disliked and so restict the popularity of THAT name by just having the information available to them.

Of course most of the fans who use the term are unaware of how it makes others feel and some are probably wondering what on earth I'm talking about - has it ever been an issue on here? Some other boards have it as a rule that you can't use that word, others just advise against using it, so what's the policy here?

 

[Guest]

I know what you mean mate. It's certainly been brought up by myself and others quite a few times.

When i first came on here i was P'd off that so many were using ManU, as i hate that term and find it insulting as it's usually used by rival fans to taunt or slag off United, and i had a bit of a go at some for using it.

I, and a few others, posted up references to why it's insulting and hurtfull, especially to the older fans.

Listening to younger, or overseas supporters, saying it's always used on tv by pundits during games and in newspapers etc, i realised it is more widely used in a non offensive way than some might realise.

I think on here the majority discourage the use of the term ManU ( and some mods alter members posts to Man Utd), and personally i take the view that some members genuinly do not know or see it as offensive. I usually try explain, either on the forum or by PM, the way i personally feel but if they continue to use the term i'm not going to start kicking off at them or ban them.

There's no rule that members can't use it but most members try to discourage it and happily i think anyone who had it explained exactly why its not liked has stopped using it.


Nice post and good rep being sent.
.

 

[Jazz 16]

We dont have a particular rule as such but if someone persists on using it we send them a pm explaining why not to. We even change their posts sometimes if we deem it necessary. I agree with what Sal said above^^^
we had a thread once: http://www.manutdtalk.com/forums/man-utd-chat/3663-dont-call-us-man-u-please-3.html

 

[Keano!]

I hate it when ya hear it on the radio or on the telly.......ya just feel like ringing them and actually telling them anout it....

 

[Red Devil]

It was decided, after much discussion that it was not really all that important, especially as a few have it in their log in name. Its not the end of the world.

 

[decorativeed]

I hate it when ya hear it on the radio or on the telly.......ya just feel like ringing them and actually telling them anout it....

I know - I actually saw Roy Carroll using it in a TV interview the other day. And when Sky Sports News show the H/T scores at the bottom of the screen they had enough room to spell out "Northampton Town" and "Tottenham Hotspur" in full and still they showed our score as "Man U".

As far as it not being important, that's true to some extent, but it doesn't go down too well at OT. This forum (and others like it) are good places to learn about our club and disseminate information. As with most other forums, when people are made aware that the term is disliked by many fans they stop using it themselves and tell others what they have learned. In fact I think it brings fans closer together, it'd be nice if people had a source for that information here on ManUtdTalk (which is not called ManUTalk for the same reasons I suppose).

 

[carlyluvsunited]

We have discussed this before ...

To be honest I had never heard of the problem before until Sal explains it to me.

I think you will find in the Far East - Singapore, China, Korea etc etc it is common
place to call the team Man U. Not in a vindictive way of course.

Many youngsters too don't realise.

Maybe you can make a nice thread with explanations - and we will make it a
sticky - then we can correct people and show them to your thread....

Usually I just edit it out to save on offending anyone.

Much better to edit it and show them why though ...

 

[Red Devil]

Its a form orf sms united speak, I wouldn't bother about it.

 

[CROoney]

http://www.manutdtalk.com/forums/man-utd-chat/3663-dont-call-us-man-u-please.html

http://www.manutdtalk.com/forums/man-utd-chat/3663-dont-call-us-man-u-please.html

i opened that thread - copy paste from the TR

 

[decorativeed]

I think it is worth bringing up. Maybe it is more difficult for fans from further affield to understand, but when you leave Manchester after 26 years and find that almost everyone else (even our own fans) refer to us as Man U, you find it very irritating. There are reasons it is not used in Manchester and the only reason it is so widely used outside of England and Manchester in particular is because of the lazy press and sports broadcasters.

Fair enough it's easier to say and to type a two sylable/four letter term, but it's not right. You won't find it in United books, songs, scarves or shirts and they don't use it in the Manchester Evening News. Lets make a little bit of extra effort and more importantly let's not use the term our rivals use to mock us with when refering to our club.

 

[Red Devil]

Let it go, it will never change....................

 

[Harvo]

I think the people that go to great length to support this are just looking for trouble. It's become more of a nickname now and is not used for insulting.

 

[eoininho]

who really cares.... i hear former irish united players refer to united as ManU as pundits on tv..




From RD: you cannot post without swearing, can you ? I have deleted the remainder of this post.

 

[worrioz]

ive just been reading the previous thred regarding the term 'Man U' as offensive as it is used in a rival song, personally i have been using the term 'Man U' since i was a little lad, also in the previous thred KeanosFan pointed out that we dont call man city 'man c' or newcastle 'new u' this is probably because ther is two teams in manchester with the same name if there was one then we would probably call it manchester, as newcastle, everton, arsenal do etc.

 

[decorativeed]

I think the people that go to great length to support this are just looking for trouble. It's become more of a nickname now and is not used for insulting.

To be fair, I think that people that can't accept that it causes offence to fellow fans and continue to insist on using it as a "nickname" are the ones looking for trouble. It's a fact that it's not a term that the club has used or refered to itself as and I seem to remember the gaffer publicly telling Teddy Sheringham not to use that term at a press conferance not too long ago.

I'm not saying that all United fans who use the term are doing it on purpose to cause offence, as most are unaware of the reasons it is frowned upon by a lot of supporters. That's why this thread was set up - just to let people know so that they may take it into consideration in future.

On top of causing offence, you may just harm your credibility. To be honest, I can handle people from outside of the UK using that term (although I'd still ask them not too given the chance and explain why), but when I hear British (and particularly English) people using it, I can't help but think of them as armchair supporters. I'm sorry, maybe that's just me being prejudicial, but it's the way I feel.

 

[Harvo]

To be fair, I think that people that can't accept that it causes offence to fellow fans and continue to insist on using it as a "nickname" are the ones looking for trouble. It's a fact that it's not a term that the club has used or refered to itself as and I seem to remember the gaffer publicly telling Teddy Sheringham not to use that term at a press conferance not too long ago.

I'm not saying that all United fans who use the term are doing it on purpose to cause offence, as most are unaware of the reasons it is frowned upon by a lot of supporters. That's why this thread was set up - just to let people know so that they may take it into consideration in future.

On top of causing offence, you may just harm your credibility. To be honest, I can handle people from outside of the UK using that term (although I'd still ask them not too given the chance and explain why), but when I hear British (and particularly English) people using it, I can't help but think of them as armchair supporters. I'm sorry, maybe that's just me being prejudicial, but it's the way I feel.

Armchair supporters are people who don't go to the games... Get your facts straight Get a life and get over it

 

[decorativeed]

I think you're misunderstanding, please read the post again and try to understand. I'm not accusing anyone on here of being armchair supporters. That's just the impression I get of people who call us "Man U". Whether that's a correct assumption is obviously debatable.

Being an armchair supporter is fine, but disregarding the opinions and wishes of fellow fans in such an off-hand and agressive manner is another matter completely.

 

[Red Devil]

Armchair supporters are people who don't go to the games... Get your facts straight Get a life and get over it

I think I know what he means. Armchair fans as defined as "in name only" - eg: glory hunters.

thread closed, its becoming a procession now.