When I first heard this term used - on the old 606 - I confess that I found it quite charming, and thought that it had been coined by one of the Spurs faithful as an endearing name for us. It just didn't seem offensive, at all, to me. Then, I discovered that, in fact, the name had been coined by one of our bitter and jealous rivals and adopted by mainly Gooners, Chavs and Mickey Mousers as an intended term of abuse or belittlement, and suddenly the expression lost all of its hitherto charm. However, even now, I cannot say that I find the expression particularly offensive. For a start, it makes absolutely no logical sense that we should be called spuds, since there does not appear to be any connection between our great club and the humble potato. Indeed, I strongly suspect that the term was coined by a juvenile Gooner (or, as is more likely, by an adult Gooner with the IQ of a certified cretin - aka a simpleton), and that it is nothing more than an illiterate derivative of the word "Spurs." Therefore, I am torn as to whether I find the expression annoying or merely pathetic. I am tending towards the latter. What do the rest of you think?
It's a bit annoying but the only time it really bothers me is when a neutral comes on our board "in peace" and thinks it's fine to use it. When it's a rival fan using it, it's invariably followed up by bitter nonsense so it's not something that gets me riled as it used to.
Yes, I've noticed, over the years, that, on the odd occasion, an innocent fan from a non-rival club will come onto our board(s) (including the old 606 days, here) and used the expression "spud" thinking it was not created as a term of abuse. I can forgive them, because that's exactly what I thought the first time I heard it.
To me it's just stupid. I don't know if the wum's think it makes them look smart or not by switching the "r" for a "d" but it's just poorly thought out wumming in my opinion.
Arsenal fans call themselves Gooners. I know they're not very loud but surely you've heard them sing "Good to be a Gooner"?
What about the expression "Mickey Mousers"? Good, honest, down-to-earth Cockney rhyming-slang. Surely, you cannot have any beef with that, Little Luke?
The thing is, "spud" is used, by rival wums, as a term of abuse to refer not only to us, as fans (as we would refer, for example, to the "chavs" or the "Gooners"), but also to our club. A lot of the poor rival wums will simply replace "Spurs" for "Spuds" in a sentence or thread question, as in "can the mighty Spuds juggernaut be stopped this season?"* So, half the time, at least, the abuse is not even aimed at the fans. * The correct answer to this question, by the way, is "no, it cannot be stopped"
Pathetic, but who gives a ****? We have the best side I have ever seen at Spurs and we are challenging the so-called big boys! COYS!
