Woburn Or Worcester: Which Is The True Wu? Or Woo?

WOBURN, MA -- For the record, the glossary of Boston slang says that the term "The Wu" belongs to Woburn. But Worcester residents -- who also refer to their city as "The Woo" -- may beg to differ. And a pair of Boston disc jockeys are trying to settle -- or perhaps stir up -- the debate.

Karson & Kennedy, the morning drive duo on Mix 104.1, put out the call on Facebook Tuesday, asking "Which is the real 'Woo?' Worcester or Woburn." So far the votes have been leaning towards Worcester, with one for Ric Flair, the professional wrestler who uses an energetic "Woo!" as his catchphrase in interviews to hype upcoming matches.

Some online investigating turned up no clues on which town started referring to itself as the Wu first. And even though Woburn gets the backing of the glossary of Boston slang, Urban Dictionary says "The Woo" is Worcester's nickname.

And here's a tangental warning: snooping online in an attempt to find the origins of the nickname can result in some unflattering descriptions of Woburn. The nicest thing we could find someone saying about Woburn on the Internet's underbelly was that it's a "place that everyone says they hate, but deep down inside, they love."

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File photo of a burger from WUBurger (located in Woburn, not Worcester) by Dave Copeland/Patch.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).