The bizarre reason why calling someone a ‘Dundee United’ is an insult in Nigeria

In this article, we take a look at the bizarre reason why calling someone a ‘Dundee United’ is an insult by citizens in Nigeria.

The odd offensive phrase derives from an ill-fated tour the Scottish Premiership club has done whilst in Nigeria way back in the 1970s.

People of the African country use it when referring to one another individual as an idiot.

Back then, the Tangerines had played very badly in their matches and it was a time when there were also a lot of off-field problems.

Jim McLean’s side won just one of their five games against local amateur teams, ending the two-week trip with an embarrassing 4-1 defeat to Stationery Stores.

Locals fans who had turned out in their thousands to see the Scottish side were left majorly disappointed and an article published in the Nigerian Daily Express which had the headlined “Don’t Come Back” emblaizoned over it as Dundee United returned home.

Supporter Liam Kirkaldy did some research into the origins of the insult of calling someone a ‘Dundee United’.

He said the club is more famous in Nigeria – which is 4,500 miles away – than in Scotland.

Scotland has a population of just 5.4million people compared to Nigeria’s of 201million.

He said: “I’m quite pleased with the club’s fame.

“When you think about it, there aren’t that many people in Scotland, and Dundee United isn’t a very well known team.”

A TV advert shown in Nigeria for an anti-malarial drug in the 1980s even used the club’s name in vain, just showing just how much they hate them.

Liam, of Nutmeg magazine, added: “So there are actually more people worldwide who know Dundee United as the word for an idiot than know it as a football team.”

Yewande, a Nigerian-Scot based in Glasgow, says: “When I was little, living in Nigeria, it was quite common. People would say ‘you’re just a Dundee United’, or ‘don’t be a Dundee United’, and it basically means an idiot or a loser.”

In time and repeated use, it’s seen it worn down to just “Dundee” on occasion. In other contexts, a “Dundee” can be used to refer to one idiot, while ‘Dundee United’ has become the plural, for a collection of idiots.

Fatima, a Nigerian-Scot based in Aberdeen, explains: “A ‘Dundee’ is quite a common phrase in the north [of Nigeria]. I heard it a few times from relatives. If a wee kid was misbehaving or something, or someone does something really stupid, you’d say “Dundee”, sometimes followed by the word “mumu” which really just means the same thing. But because of the way it is pronounced I hadn’t thought of Dundee, the city in Scotland. I knew the phrase but never made that connection at all.”

Derin, a Nigerian-Scot from Glasgow, adds: “There are different options for how you might use it. When I was a child you would hear it a lot more, because it’s a bit less offensive than saying ‘stupid’ or ‘idiot’, or something in one of the languages, because they always sound slightly harsher, so that was used instead. You’d hear it sometimes as Dundee United, or sometimes just Dundee. If someone called you a Dundee you could go ‘Dundee United’ back at them, to prove you know the full thing, as a way of getting one-up on them.”

As mentioned, an article published in the Nigerian Daily Express as United got back into Scotland summed up the general feeling towards the club.

“Football followers in this country were very happy in the sense it would give them another opportunity to witness a first class Scottish team,” it says. “But alas, what we saw was in fact a direct opposite of what we expected. The argument adduced by some people was that the visitors had been overworked or tired out, but this does not seem to hold water and they are not the first English [sic] team to tour Nigeria under the same weather conditions. We must agree that they are just not good. They had nothing to offer Nigeria as far as football technique and artistry are concerned, it is as simple as that.”

Amara is a Nigerian-Scot who works in Dundee, but says that he has never felt the need to mention use of the phrase to colleagues. “Some of my colleagues ask me about Nigeria, and one is actually a Dundee United fan, but I’ve never told them,” he laughs. “I didn’t think there was any need.”

“I was actually in Nigeria just before the Covid outbreak and someone in the pub was calling someone a “Dundee United”, because they were yapping [teasing] their friend, and I said: ‘Do you know there is a football club in Scotland called Dundee United, and they said ‘No? Really?’ They thought it was a really strange thing to call a football team. I explained about the city and that it was a football team and they thought it was pretty funny…”

To this day, the phrase over in Nigeria continues, so don’t go over to the country and call them a ‘Dundee United’.

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Fans reacted at the bizarre reason why calling someone a ‘Dundee United’ is an insult in Nigeria…

@SGibson97: Maddest thing you’ll hear today – Dundee United is an insult in Nigeria 🤣😂 if they think someone’s an idiot they’ll call them Dundee United wtf 😅

@RobbieWardlaw: This is mental but amazing

@TomByr: The unexpected ways cultures draw on one another, sometimes without knowing how it’s happened. “Some of my colleagues ask me about Nigeria, and one is actually a Dundee United fan, but I’ve never told them” he laughs “I didn’t think there was any need”

@RobJFH: Haha, this is great!

@Thablvckboi: I’ve always been aware of this phrase, I even use it jokingly though sparingly but I’ve never heard the the story behind it. Good read.

@derrygandhi7: It’s an insult in Scotland too!

@josw2712: Absolutely brilliant. Even folk thousands of miles away recognise that lot are dafties

@BrownKaiser123: Some story

@rbcallaghan: This is incredible

@TravellingTom: What a great read! 😂

@redkingcraw: This is a truly wonderful story

@_Peter1082: Just watched yer man from the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Sky News and now I can’t even see/hear the word ‘Nigeria’ without thinking about this and howling