The curious case of the Twitter account “Totally Man U” has forced us to talk about a certain sensitive topic.
Not everyone knows this, and I myself didn’t even know it until recently, much as I hate to admit it, but “Man U.” or “Man U” is not something you should say. It’s disrespectful. When you need to abbreviate Manchester United, you could say Man United, MUFC, the Red Devils etc. I know this fact is a bit obscure.
Here’s the story:
Via Bleacher Report:
The origin of the term “Man U” is a song to insult the deceased Duncan Edwards. The Leeds fans (not to knock on any Leeds fans out there, but this is fact) created their own version of the song to insult all the men that died in the Munich air disaster of 1958.
Rival supporters have since adopted this term for the same use: To insult the men who died in Munich.
The song went something like this:
“Man U, Man U, went on a plane! Man U, Man U, never came back again!”
“Man U, never intended in coming home!”
Pretty disgusting isn’t it? Yeah, that is, as Keith Olbermann would say, “worst person in the world” kind of stuff. Yes, this was created not only to offend not only Manchester United, but those who perished in the Munich air disaster.
And I completely agree with what the Bleacher Report writer said here: “I am not angry at anyone who has used this term, as it is not common knowledge.”
Again it happened 56 years ago, so not everyone knows this, but it’s just why you shouldn’t say “Man U.” Say glory glory Man United instead.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports and Yahoo! He’s been a guest on news talk shows all across the world. He’s also a special contributor to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Banks has been featured in numerous media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, NBC, CBS, the History Channel and more. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)