“I’ve recently discovered that, in Nigeria, Dundee United is slang for ‘idiot’ or ‘fool’, apparently the result of a disastrous tour in 1972,” mails Nicholas Reid. “Are there any similar examples of football club names becoming slang terms around the world?”
It’s true: Dundee United is slang for idiot in Nigeria. This peculiar fact came to British attention in 2010, during a BBC documentary about the Nigerian capital Lagos. A local man, Chubby, told the filmmakers how life in Lagos is not for the foolish. “Anybody who came to Lagos and he didn’t learn sense, he cannot get sense ever,” said Chubby. “Because here if you are a fool, they will learn you how to get sense. If you are a ‘Dundee United’, when they start to pour shit on you, you will get sense.”
As this article in the Scotsman explains, many believe this stems from a disastrous tour in 1972. There is also a suggestion that, when Nigeria were based at Dens Park during the Under-16 World Cup of 1989, some mischievous Dundee fans decided to enrich their vocabulary.
That’s one of the better examples of a club team becoming slang around the world. Another comes from Korea, as explained by Oliver Trenchard. “There is a phrase in Korea called ‘Leeds Days’ (리즈시절) that refers to a person or thing’s heyday,” says Oliver. “It relates back to the turn of the century when Leeds and more specifically Alan Smith were enjoying considerable success in Europe, and the fact they dropped off after that heyday.”
You’re probably all familiar with the appropriation of Bristol City. The Turkey national team has also unwittingly provided football with soupçon of erotica. “The national team has made its way into the Turkish language with the phrase ‘Milli olmak’, which refers to a player’s first international call-up,” says Önder Susam. “It is used for a man who’s had sex for the first time. It’s use as an innuendo can be seen here as Rıdvan Dilmen bursts into laughter upon hearing the question ‘When did you get your first call-up?’.”
Peter Svensson reminds us that, in Denmark, a ‘rigtig Jesper Olsen’ (a real Jesper Olsen) refers to an egregious mistake in any walk of life. That stems from his notorious backpass at the 1986 World Cup, which led to the most exciting team in the competition being pumped 5-1 by Spain.
Although poor Loris Karius had the worst night of his life on Saturday, it could be worse. His name may be mud, but at least it’s not slang. Do you have any other examples? If so, you know what to do.
Goal difference difference
“Hull finished this season 18th in the Championship with a goal difference of 0, while the team directly below them, Birmingham, had a goal difference of -30,” mails Christopher Harding. “Is this the largest goal difference, um, difference between two teams finishing next to one another?”
Most of you pointed out this season’s 39-goal gap between Manchester City (+79) and Manchester United (+40). But that’s small beer in the magical world of goal difference difference. “Recently Celtic won the Scottish Premiership in 2014 with a +77 goal difference,” says Sean De Loughry. “Second placed Motherwell had a +4 goal difference. That’s a difference of 73 goals.”
“They can’t hold a light to the 1917-18 MTK side who, it would be fair to say, dominated the Hungarian top flight,” continues Sean. “They scored an impressive 147, conceding 10, for a +137 goal difference, 117 goals better than runners-up Ferencvaros.”
Michael Peters can see that +117 and raise it. “If it counts, the Federated States of Micronesia finished their 2015 Pacific Games group stage with a goal difference of -114, which is very impressive considering they played only three games. Third placed Vanuatu ended on +45 (thanks to beating Micronesia 46-0), a jump of 159 goals.”
Goal difference, bloody hell. If you can beat that, get in touch.
Jury service
“Has there ever been an occasion where a major team has been disrupted by jury service, with either a manager or a player being called up during the season?” James Schofield asked a few weeks back.
“Plymouth’s Welsh international Carl Fletcher once tried to argue he couldn’t sit on a jury as he was too well known,” begins Andy Carswell.
“According to reports in 2010, Judge Francis Gilbert told the midfielder that being Plymouth captain was not sufficient reason to excuse him, and that he had enough time to travel to Cheltenhamfor a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie after completing his duties.
“Fletcher argued that his position meant he was in a position of potentially being threatened, saying: ‘I don’t want anything to come back on me for sitting on a jury.’ His protests fell on deaf ears, with Judge Gilbert adding: ‘Lots of well-known people, some more famous than you, have been required to sit on juries.’”
Knowledge archive
“Is it true that Chilean players drank vodka during the 1962 World Cup because they thought it would help their chances of beating the USSR?” asked Steven Davison back in the summer of 2006.
Incredibly, Steven, it is. During the group stage, the hosts employed an interesting new tactic of pre-game stereotypical eating: before the opening 3-1 win over Switzerland, they ate cheese, followed by a preparatory meal of spaghetti before the 2-0 success against Italy.
Once in the quarter-finals, the Chileans prepared for their game with the mighty Soviets by downing a couple of Smirnoffs. The ploy actually worked and Chile went on to win 2-1. Coffee was the order of the day before the semi-final with Brazil, but although it perked them up no end in the morning, it couldn’t stop the Brazilians from winning 4-2 and going on to lift the trophy. Eduardo Galeano wrote in Soccer in Sun and Shadow that Chile “gobbled down spaghetti, chocolate, and vodka, but choked on the coffee”.
For thousands more questions and answers take a trip through the Knowledge archive.
Can you help?
Rotherham’s victory in the League One play-off final means that all of the three teams who dropped out of the Championship last season have secured an immediate return to the division (Wigan and Blackburn being the others). Are there any previous occasions where this has happened?” wonders Jonathan Hart.
“Now that Swansea, Stoke and West Brom are gone and Cardiff and Fulham are in, the Premier League has never looked so alphabetically top-heavy. The 10th team are Huddersfield! Is this a record?” asks Mike McCarthy.
“I was watching the highlights of Watford’s 2012-13 season recently and noticed that in the 6-1 win against Leeds, five of their goals were scored from outside the area,” says Will Paterson. “Are there any other examples of games with so many of the goals for one team coming from so far out?”
“Which team has the worst record at Wembley Stadium?” asks Chris Beesley.
- Send your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU