It’s not an American thing. It’s a posh southern England thing that got exported to the states by American students at Oxford returning stateside and bringing the game back with them.
It's not just to distinguish it from rugby football. There are dozens of different types of games of football. Association football is just the one that got particularly popular across the world.
I watched several documentaries over the years that said it is because at the time Football Clubs were referred to as Social Clubs and the team was just part of the Social Club. The clubs were referred to as "Socs" pronounced like the footwear Socks, and the Teams would play what was referred to a s "Soccer" as in Sock-er. Then this got exported to various people in North America, mostly from the South and West of England. Then it fell out of usage in England but no one told us over here in North America so we kept using the term.
To maybe be more clear: you are implying that the c in "soc" is pronounced like a "sh" when it's the t in "tion".
Is it not? How do you pronounce it?
Also I'm pretty sure that's what the "ʃən" at the end of the pronunciation thing means.
Looking at the sound-by-sound pronunciation, it seems to confirm this.
/ʃ/ as in she
/ən/ as in sudden
I think the question was whether or not people pronounce the "soc" in "soccer" the same as they pronounce it in "association" ("soʃ" I guess), or like "sock"
I did provide a link where both the British and the American pronunciation treat the c as an s sound. They have the IPA as
/əˌsəʊ.siˈeɪ.ʃən/
for both dialects. "soc" does contain the c, not the t.
As I said, I'm not debating that the t in "tion" is pronounced that way (at least I tried to be clear, maybe I muddled it even more), but I have always pronounced the c as an s sound, and it appears Cambridge agrees with me.
Some British English dialects do use a ʃ sound for the C in "association". OED has it listed for both UK and USA, though I don't personally know what the US situation is there
The pronunciation tab there is paywalled, but in the OED app on my phone, they list /əˌsəʊsiˈeɪʃn/, followed by /əˌsəʊʃiˈeɪʃn/ in the pronunciation section. I honestly can't recall ever hearing a single person in the US pronounce it /əˌsəʊʃiˈeɪʃn/, and though I won't say nobody does, the other pronunciation is far and away more common, where the 'c' and 't' make entirely distinct sounds.
Blame the British, Oxford specifically, and their penchant to name things ending in -er. They're the ones that named it, and they hide from that fact now as if they were never a part of it.
In Australian AFL, otherwise known as Aussie Rules, it's pretty common to need to jump high enough that you get another person to launch you. Imagine that from horseback! I'd watch.
Actually I believe it’s called “Football” because most ball games were originally played on horseback.
hmmm are you sure about that? I do not know with certainty but today playing a sport with a horse would be a high demand, back in the days it would have been an even bigger one so I sincerely doubt "most ball games" were originally played on horseback when not having a horse was that much easier
That's like saying "we call them Earthmobiles because back then, most vehicles were just planes" (no way planes were common before cars)
You are sort of right regarding the origin of soccer, but it was intended to distinguish football played by the association rules vs other types of football which were popular at the time.
Association football is part of a family of football codes that emerged from various ball games played worldwide since antiquity. The word "association" in this term refers to the Football Association (the FA), founded in London in 1863, which published the first set of rules for the sport that same year.[8] The term was coined to distinguish the type of football played in accordance with the FA rules from other types that were gaining popularity at the time, particularly rugby football.[9]
Heading from The Sportsman front page of 25 November 1910, illustrating the continued use of the word "football" to encompass both rugby and association football.
The term soccer comes from Oxford "-er" slang, which was prevalent at the University of Oxford in England from about 1875, and is thought to have been borrowed from the slang of Rugby School. Initially spelt assoccer (a shortening of "association"), it was later reduced to the modern spelling.[10][11] Early alternative spellings included socca and socker.[9] This form of slang also gave rise to rugger for rugby football, fiver and tenner for five pound and ten pound notes, and the now-archaic footer that was also a name for association football.[12]
Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called simply "football" in Great Britain and most of Ulster in the north of Ireland,[13] whereas people usually call it "soccer" in regions and countries where other codes of football are prevalent, such as Australia,[14] Canada, South Africa, most of Ireland (excluding Ulster),[15] and the United States. A notable exception is New Zealand, where in the first two decades of the 21st century, under the influence of international television, "football" has been gaining prevalence, despite the dominance of other codes of football, namely rugby union and rugby league.[16]
Yes it was called football because the peasants played it on their feet while the nobles played polo and other equestrian sports. There's a huge documented history, several Kings in English history all had a take on the issue. Some thought it was awful because they hated seeing their peasants creating a spectacle and sometimes they got hurt and couldn't work, but other kings leaned into it and used it to gain favor with the lower classes.
According to wikipedia, what you claim is true but also there is documented history of the "foot" part coming up because of the kicking of the ball from really far back
The truth is we do not seem to know which of the 2 sources truly directed the current name... very likely both contributed
That doesn't make sense because most forms of football (rugby and american etc) use mostly the hands to carry the ball. The name was never about kicking, it was about playing on foot, until John Cleese made a joke about it. There's sources going back to the middle ages about it.
"As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all modern football codes, these medieval games involved more handling of the ball than kicking it.[39][3]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football
Umm... ever heard of Polo? Buzkashi? Chovgan? Pato? All of those are ball games played on horseback (except Buzkashi which is played on horseback but uses a a goat carcass instead of a ball)
Your analogy is also false because cars were invented before planes.
1885–1886: Benz Patent-Motorwagen becomes the first practical automobile.
1903: Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright achieve the first powered, controlled airplane flight with the Wright Flyer.
A decapitated, disemboweled goat is surprisingly hard to tear apart. The hide and connective tissue can withstand dozens of riders yanking it around at full gallop.
Umm… ever heard of Polo? Buzkashi? Chovgan? Pato? All of those are ball games played on horseback (except Buzkashi which is played on horseback but uses a a goat carcass instead of a ball)
Your analogy is also false because cars were invented before planes.
That was exactly my point... do you think nobody thought of kicking a ball around BEFORE they decided to break horses, train them and then push a ball around with a stick while on horseback?
To risk a valuable commodity as a horse in a game, it implies humanity was already well off enough (at least some people) to keep horses around with relative ease
My point was that the simplest form of a sport (on foot) would have likely existed (and indeed they did) WAAAAAAYYYYY before we decided to play sports on horses
At the end of the day, it seems both sources are valid: Horseback sports were the only ones officially recognized during medieval times; AS WELL AS, historical records showing games played by kicking balls from way before. Which of those 2 sources or both to a certain extent are part of the etymology of the modern word "football"
do you think nobody thought of kicking a ball around BEFORE they decided to break horses
of course they did, but why would a self respecting elite adopt peasant terminology for a beloved pass time? How could it get away with skewing early rules and standards if they couldb't frame it entirely as theur own? How could they exclusively commodify it if it were not mythologized as their own creation?
Of course these point are vastly irrelevant to the discussion at hand but, make no mistake, i'd never have made them if they were to begin with.
Look I get your point but neither my original theory (foot = kicking) or yours (foot = not on horse) have been proven to be the "real" source of the word football today; maybe it's one or the other OR influenced by both sources
The term "soccer" was invented in England in the late 19th century by university students. It is widely attributed to Charles Wredford-Brown, an Oxford student.
Both the American and rest of the world versions of their respective ball games are played on foot, as opposed to polo that is played riding a horse. The latter was originally invented by Ralph Lauren, as commemorated in ubiquitous t-shirts with a gentlemanly collar.
"When you go to the pearly gates, call them 'Jod ' and see how it works out for you" was my favourite response to the gif/jif debate.
(Oddly enough Jif is an abrasive bathroom cleaner / was a lemon juice brand where I'm from (or vice versa) it was renamed to Cif to stop people from suing the companies because they added cream cleaner to their lemon meringue pie)
Both are called football because they’re played on foot, as opposed to on horseback. Both were called that because people who couldn’t afford horses were using polo fields to play Society football (soccer) or Rugby football (American football).
It has nothing to do with how the ball is handled/kicked.
Yes. According to history people, the first time the word football was used was in some elitist college newspaper, complaining about people playing lowly “foot-ball games” on their horse polo fields.
I don't think so... basically that would mean every sport could/should be called "football"...
Basketball = played on foot, not horse therefore football
Volleyball = played on foot, not horse therefore football
Baseball = no horse, football again
Hockey = believe it or not, football... maybe skate ball?
I am kidding of course, it seems nobody really knows and the 2 main theories are the one you mentioned (on foot, not on horse) vs kicking of a ball with your foot (and not your hand)
Frankly, all of the different football games should get a proper name like that. Gridiron and rugby (both union and league) are both great names. You can call them gridiron football or rugby football if you want to be formal. Soccer is basically the same idea, being a shortening of association football. Now we just need counterparts for Australian and Gaelic
Gotta love it when people say "Americans tell everyone else what to do and how to do it" but also go "we should tell Americans what to do and how to do it"
Woah woah woah. I thought we agreed getting Americans to use A4 paper instead of 8.5x11 first, calculate by the metric instead of the imperial system second, measure economy by HDI instead of GDP third, and call it football instead of soccer last.
Trying to apply logic at Americans. Waste of time. They still use imperial and call their sport football even though it's without using a foot and ball.
The foot only hits the 'ball' for kickoffs and field goals. The rest of the timr its in their hands. Should call it handball. Used to call it pigskin football until they stopped using pig skin to make the weird balls.
“A good compromise is when both parties are dissatisfied”
― Larry David
Thusly, I call the boring game "soccer" and the often decided by refs game where everyone has brain damage "gridiron". Nobody wins, which is beautiful in its own way.
It's called soccer in places where it's a B or C tier sport.
America, Australia, New Zealand at least have at least one other massively more popular sport called Football.
As a citizen of the US I can assure you that our football is more like a choreographed dance routine done by over paid no necks who are afraid to take a chance. The only sport I played as a kid that I enjoyed was 'soccer'. We were never told it was called foot ball every where else in the world. There is zero chance most americans will ever step away from that fake circus of manufactured glory.
They use retarded measuring systems, can't call their own country by the right name and name it as the continent, they leave their fellow citizens die of illness if they can't pay for it, and sustain their economic system by waging war or provoking them, and their president cant hold his shit in, what did you expect?
The last time I talked to an American they weren't sure if Canada was part of their country or not. I'm not confident in them being able to understand anything beyond what they can see.
This fake affront to people from the US calling themselves American is really dumb, man. Yes, everyone from those two hemispheres can be called Americans, but most people don't have a stronger identity to their super continent than their country. Someone from Columbia isn't going to call themselves American and then get bothered when they have to clarify that they meant the super continent of North and South America.
People from North America identify as their country first, and North American second, if at all. They don't call themselves American unless they're from the states.
You don't hear people from Italy call themselves Eurasian. And if a new country formed from an alliance of middle eastern countries and called themselves The United Territories of Eurasia, I don't think any one would bat an eyelash over them calling themselves Eurasian, either. Dumb performative wankery is exhausting, man.
It's "dumb" because you know I'm right. USAians think they represent everybody on the planet. Every film about aliens has some USAian speaking up on behalf of all humans. Supernatural occurrences only happen in the US. The "World Series" is, you guessed it, in the US.
Also, the French and Spanish literal translation is "USAians".
And Italians call themselves Italians, but because USAians can't find the country on a map nor understand that being Italian doesn't mean you're in the mob from New York, they have to say European. Sometimes that doesn't even help.
USAians don't represent 2 continents, much less the world. Suck it up.
Movies I'm presuming were made in Hollywood largely feature American protagonists? I'm shocked. Don't writers know they should presume to know other cultures instead? /s
What other languages call Americans is irrelevant. We're talking in English. Do you think it would be appropriate to call Germans Germans (the English word) in deutsche? Or Japanese people Japanese in their language? Japan, by the way, is actually a translation murdered Chinese name for their people. They refer to themselves as Nihonjin, well 日本人, literally people of the land of the rising sun.
America has always had a xenophobia problem. This means when large groups of immigrants arrive all at once, they're basically forced to rely on each other because the locals are pretty unfriendly. The result is an immigrant community whose country of origin becomes the thread that kept them all together. The Italians of New England are the Italians because that identity is what saved their community from honestly a really fucked up time. And yeah, the Italian mob also comes from that time period. If you can't earn money via legitimate means, crime is sometimes the only answer.
We know the difference between Italian Italian and Italian American.
We don't presume to represent two continents. The policy of our government and the views of the average American are not aligned in that way. Most Americans think we're the good guys, going out to stop bad guys. Like, actually. Yeah, it's stupid, but a lot of Americans are waking up to the reality of the situation, now. We're the most propagandized population on the planet, and it was only during covid that a lot of people saw the mask slip.
What are you on about? What do cultures have to do with this? And USAian protags are regularly cast in different roles (note white-washing). And the "World Series" isn't just in the movies btw.
We know the difference between Italian Italian and Italian American.
LMAO, sure, whatever you tell yourself to sleep at night. Most of you don't even know the shape of Italy, let alone the continent it's on.
We don't presume to represent two continents.
No no no, of course not. This entire discussion wasn't you getting pissy about being called USAian. Sorry, completely misread that.
What other languages call Americans is irrelevant.
Where did I say this or imply it? I really hope English isn't your first language, because you're doing a pretty bad job at comprehending it.
Also, the French and Spanish literal translation is "USAians"
To quote you, since you want to attack me rather than talk.
I'm not running another gish-gallop with you, man. I've said my piece and you've been ignoring everything I'm saying, trying to win your troll game. Enjoy, man, and may you have the day you deserve.
143 Comments
fartsparkles@lemmy.world · 132 pts · 69d
Soccer is a British word though, but predominantly southerner / Oxfordian.
Association Football used to get contracted to Assoc or Soc to differentiate it from Rugby Football.
And in Oxford, they historically liked to add -er to the end of things; still in parlance today is calling Rugby “rugger”, £5 note “fiver”, the Bodleian Library “Bodder”.
Assoc became “soccer”.
It’s not an American thing. It’s a posh southern England thing that got exported to the states by American students at Oxford returning stateside and bringing the game back with them.
WagnasT@piefed.world · 7 pts · 68d
So it should be pronounced like so-ser?
somethingsnappy@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 68d
In Scotland, yes.
Cethin@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 68d
It's not just to distinguish it from rugby football. There are dozens of different types of games of football. Association football is just the one that got particularly popular across the world.
WolvenSpectre@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 68d
I watched several documentaries over the years that said it is because at the time Football Clubs were referred to as Social Clubs and the team was just part of the Social Club. The clubs were referred to as "Socs" pronounced like the footwear Socks, and the Teams would play what was referred to a s "Soccer" as in Sock-er. Then this got exported to various people in North America, mostly from the South and West of England. Then it fell out of usage in England but no one told us over here in North America so we kept using the term.
cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 69d
So is it "sock-urh" or "soe'sh-ur"? The latter being like "social" but with an -er ending. Because that's how 'association' is pronounced.
Vintor@retrolemmy.com · 9 pts · 69d
Where is "association" pronounced like that, if I may ask? I could only find the pronunciation I'm familiar with, which is this: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/association
To maybe be more clear: you are implying that the c in "soc" is pronounced like a "sh" when it's the t in "tion".
(Edit: missed some letters.)
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 4 pts · 69d
Is it not? How do you pronounce it?
Also I'm pretty sure that's what the "ʃən" at the end of the pronunciation thing means.
Looking at the sound-by-sound pronunciation, it seems to confirm this.
I think the question was whether or not people pronounce the "soc" in "soccer" the same as they pronounce it in "association" ("soʃ" I guess), or like "sock"
Vintor@retrolemmy.com · 3 pts · 68d
I did provide a link where both the British and the American pronunciation treat the c as an s sound. They have the IPA as /əˌsəʊ.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ for both dialects. "soc" does contain the c, not the t.
As I said, I'm not debating that the t in "tion" is pronounced that way (at least I tried to be clear, maybe I muddled it even more), but I have always pronounced the c as an s sound, and it appears Cambridge agrees with me.
Skua@kbin.earth · 3 pts · 68d
Some British English dialects do use a ʃ sound for the C in "association". OED has it listed for both UK and USA, though I don't personally know what the US situation is there
hraegsvelmir@ani.social · 2 pts · 68d
The pronunciation tab there is paywalled, but in the OED app on my phone, they list /əˌsəʊsiˈeɪʃn/, followed by /əˌsəʊʃiˈeɪʃn/ in the pronunciation section. I honestly can't recall ever hearing a single person in the US pronounce it /əˌsəʊʃiˈeɪʃn/, and though I won't say nobody does, the other pronunciation is far and away more common, where the 'c' and 't' make entirely distinct sounds.
cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 0 pts · 67d
Yeah, that's how I pronounce 'association' as well.
I see now that I said it wrong. The 'c' in 'association' is pronounced like an 's', so is it 'so-ser'? Like saying "so-so" but with an -er at the end?
So, if I may ask, how do you pronounce soccer?
Vintor@retrolemmy.com · 1 pts · 67d
I pronounce it the same as other people here: “sock-urh”. I was just confused about the “association” thing, so thanks for clearing that up!
fartsparkles@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 69d
Counterintuitively it’s “sock-urh”.
fushuan@lemmy.blahaj.zone · -3 pts · 68d
Cool origin. Still an US thing if only people from the US do it.
"The origin is British so it's your fault we do it" sounds like "mom didn't educate me so it's her fault I'm a deadbeat - 40y.o. adult".
You are allowed to improve your language.
starik@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 67d
Would it be an improvement? Languages are fluid, etymology is complicated, and things are called what they’re called.
Unquote0270@programming.dev · -13 pts · 69d
Yet there is not a single British person who calls it soccer.
Telodzrum@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 67d
This isn’t a strong argument; Brits mangle the language every time they open their mouths.
Unquote0270@programming.dev · 1 pts · 66d
It's not just Brits, literally the whole world calls it football except for one country which thinks it is right and everyone else is wrong.
Telodzrum@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 66d
So, what you’re saying is the majority of first-language English speakers call it soccer?
Also, show some fucking respect to Canada.
Unquote0270@programming.dev · 1 pts · 66d
If that makes you feel better then sure, let's forget the billions of other people in the world who also call it football.
halcyoncmdr@piefed.social · 47 pts · 69d
Blame the British, Oxford specifically, and their penchant to name things ending in -er. They're the ones that named it, and they hide from that fact now as if they were never a part of it.
https://www.history.com/articles/why-do-some-people-call-it-soccer
MrPoletki@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 68d
You could call them a tosser for what they've done but you'll be playing right into their hand
Azrael@reddthat.com · 43 pts · 69d
Actually I believe it's called "Football" because most ball games were originally played on horseback.
Football (Soccer) was one of the first ball games to be played on foot, hence Foot-ball
That's why Rugby, Canadian Football, Australian Football, and American Football are also types of "Football".
Also, the name "Soccer" was literally invented in England. It's short for "Association Football" (Association - Assoc - Soccer) so shut the f*** up
RamenJunkie@midwest.social · 19 pts · 68d
Man, Baseball with horses would be wild.
MrPoletki@feddit.uk · 6 pts · 68d
That's basically extreme polo isn't it?
SirActionSack@aussie.zone · 5 pts · 68d
Baseballfootbatgazter@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 68d
In Australian AFL, otherwise known as Aussie Rules, it's pretty common to need to jump high enough that you get another person to launch you. Imagine that from horseback! I'd watch.
adam_y@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 68d
Jhex@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 69d
hmmm are you sure about that? I do not know with certainty but today playing a sport with a horse would be a high demand, back in the days it would have been an even bigger one so I sincerely doubt "most ball games" were originally played on horseback when not having a horse was that much easier
That's like saying "we call them Earthmobiles because back then, most vehicles were just planes" (no way planes were common before cars)
You are sort of right regarding the origin of soccer, but it was intended to distinguish football played by the association rules vs other types of football which were popular at the time.
From Wikipedia:
Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 68d
Yes it was called football because the peasants played it on their feet while the nobles played polo and other equestrian sports. There's a huge documented history, several Kings in English history all had a take on the issue. Some thought it was awful because they hated seeing their peasants creating a spectacle and sometimes they got hurt and couldn't work, but other kings leaned into it and used it to gain favor with the lower classes.
Jhex@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 68d
According to wikipedia, what you claim is true but also there is documented history of the "foot" part coming up because of the kicking of the ball from really far back
The truth is we do not seem to know which of the 2 sources truly directed the current name... very likely both contributed
Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 68d
That doesn't make sense because most forms of football (rugby and american etc) use mostly the hands to carry the ball. The name was never about kicking, it was about playing on foot, until John Cleese made a joke about it. There's sources going back to the middle ages about it.
Jhex@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 68d
The word "football" precedes all those modern sports you are referring to.
As I said, from the wikipedia article, it seems there is a bit of both
Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 67d
"As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all modern football codes, these medieval games involved more handling of the ball than kicking it.[39][3]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football
Azrael@reddthat.com · 1 pts · 68d
Umm... ever heard of Polo? Buzkashi? Chovgan? Pato? All of those are ball games played on horseback (except Buzkashi which is played on horseback but uses a a goat carcass instead of a ball)
Your analogy is also false because cars were invented before planes.
1885–1886: Benz Patent-Motorwagen becomes the first practical automobile.
1903: Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright achieve the first powered, controlled airplane flight with the Wright Flyer.
MrPoletki@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 68d
wait...what?
Azrael@reddthat.com · 1 pts · 68d
Yes, you read that correctly...
A decapitated, disemboweled goat is surprisingly hard to tear apart. The hide and connective tissue can withstand dozens of riders yanking it around at full gallop.
MrPoletki@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 67d
Are you telling me a goat ball is the GOAT of balls?
Azrael@reddthat.com · 1 pts · 67d
Yes, I suppose that is what i'm saying
Jhex@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 68d
That was exactly my point... do you think nobody thought of kicking a ball around BEFORE they decided to break horses, train them and then push a ball around with a stick while on horseback?
To risk a valuable commodity as a horse in a game, it implies humanity was already well off enough (at least some people) to keep horses around with relative ease
My point was that the simplest form of a sport (on foot) would have likely existed (and indeed they did) WAAAAAAYYYYY before we decided to play sports on horses
At the end of the day, it seems both sources are valid: Horseback sports were the only ones officially recognized during medieval times; AS WELL AS, historical records showing games played by kicking balls from way before. Which of those 2 sources or both to a certain extent are part of the etymology of the modern word "football"
cockmushroom@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 68d
of course they did, but why would a self respecting elite adopt peasant terminology for a beloved pass time? How could it get away with skewing early rules and standards if they couldb't frame it entirely as theur own? How could they exclusively commodify it if it were not mythologized as their own creation?
Of course these point are vastly irrelevant to the discussion at hand but, make no mistake, i'd never have made them if they were to begin with.
Azrael@reddthat.com · 1 pts · 68d
Sure, but the term Football wasn't coined when ball games were invented. It was coined much later when there were already lots of different sports.
Among the sports people people played at the time, Football was one where the participants are on foot.
Jhex@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 68d
Most sports were played (and still are) on foot
Look I get your point but neither my original theory (foot = kicking) or yours (foot = not on horse) have been proven to be the "real" source of the word football today; maybe it's one or the other OR influenced by both sources
MrPoletki@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 67d
this is an interesting read wherever you might sit on the name origin theory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football
particularly the history section
inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world · 30 pts · 68d
You want to blame someone, blame yourselves since you're the ones who created and colonized the word.
https://www.britannica.com/story/why-do-some-people-call-football-soccer
SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml · 30 pts · 68d
Yes it fucking is
Doomsider@lemmy.world · 27 pts · 68d
So dumb it hurts,
The term "soccer" was invented in England in the late 19th century by university students. It is widely attributed to Charles Wredford-Brown, an Oxford student.
drolex@sopuli.xyz · 7 pts · 68d
I think it would have been more believable if the guy had been called Sir Nigel Britishman-Worcestershiresauce
This is a joke name surely
Doomsider@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 67d
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wreford-Brown
hactar42@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 67d
And the fact that everyone ignores that Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland also call it soccer
ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 67d
It's mixed in Canada. If you're talking about football then people will know what you mean.
Aussie Rules or Aussie Football when talking about that.
Sharkticon@lemmy.zip · 24 pts · 68d
Now hold on a minute this was all your idea.
JohnSmith@feddit.uk · 23 pts · 69d
Both the American and rest of the world versions of their respective ball games are played on foot, as opposed to polo that is played riding a horse. The latter was originally invented by Ralph Lauren, as commemorated in ubiquitous t-shirts with a gentlemanly collar.
Ioughttamow@fedia.io · 14 pts · 69d
Why do people still wear Lacoste if no one plays gatorball anymore?
NihilsineNefas@slrpnk.net · 6 pts · 69d
Speak for yourself, I've been handcrafting the only gatorballs strong enough to survive their bite strength for years!
homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 68d
I thought it was an anthropomorphous pickle!
apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 69d
¿Por qué no los dos? Personally tired of these primarily online binary semantic arguments. Gif, jif, football, soccer, fútbol, pineapple, ananas, eggplant, aubergine. We contain multitudes, celebrate these absolutely arbitrary differences.
fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk · 16 pts · 69d
No.
Them other folks need to learn themselves to talk proper.
NihilsineNefas@slrpnk.net · 3 pts · 69d
"When you go to the pearly gates, call them 'Jod ' and see how it works out for you" was my favourite response to the gif/jif debate.
(Oddly enough Jif is an abrasive bathroom cleaner / was a lemon juice brand where I'm from (or vice versa) it was renamed to Cif to stop people from suing the companies because they added cream cleaner to their lemon meringue pie)
MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io · 4 pts · 69d
Obviously, It’s pronounced ‘Jif’ like in ‘Jorge’
homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 68d
Jif you say so
apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 68d
Jif is my jod.
jambudz@lemmy.zip · 19 pts · 68d
Y’all are the ones who came up with the name soccer.
Feathercrown@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 68d
My brother in christ YOU CALLED IT SOCCER
resipsaloquitur@lemmy.cafe · 17 pts · 68d
Handball.
Schal330@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 68d
Handball?
RamenJunkie@midwest.social · 7 pts · 68d
Looks more like an egg.
fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk · 8 pts · 68d
Yeah, that's a Handegg.
resipsaloquitur@lemmy.cafe · 3 pts · 68d
Her?
resipsaloquitur@lemmy.cafe · 5 pts · 68d
Nope, football.
shneancy@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 68d
foot egg
Zorque@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 68d
Rugby egg?
albbi@piefed.ca · 3 pts · 68d
Grope ball.
lgmjon64@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 68d
But you use both of your feet. Shouldn't it be called feetball then?
cockmushroom@reddthat.com · 7 pts · 68d
Nah. That's virtuoso shit. Most people just use one for their whole lives
Linktank@lemmy.today · 14 pts · 68d
I wont hear from the UK about speaking English correctly. You are not serious people.
drolex@sopuli.xyz · 5 pts · 68d
Precisely. It was called soccer as a joke
Vreyan31@reddthat.com · 12 pts · 68d
But that ball is not shaped like a foot
pigup@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 68d
OhStopYellingAtMe@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 68d
Both are called football because they’re played on foot, as opposed to on horseback. Both were called that because people who couldn’t afford horses were using polo fields to play Society football (soccer) or Rugby football (American football).
It has nothing to do with how the ball is handled/kicked.
halfdome@feddit.org · 3 pts · 68d
Really?
OhStopYellingAtMe@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 66d
Yes. According to history people, the first time the word football was used was in some elitist college newspaper, complaining about people playing lowly “foot-ball games” on their horse polo fields.
halfdome@feddit.org · 1 pts · 65d
I genuinely learned something new here. Appreciate it
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 68d
Ngl though, I've always enjoyed the handegg thing because it's funny enough to stand on its own
pigup@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 68d
egg tho
Ioughttamow@fedia.io · 11 pts · 69d
The arrow is pointing to his shin though?
Zorque@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 69d
Good Ole shinball
zikzak025@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 69d
Football just means a game played on foot, as opposed to on horse.
Jhex@lemmy.world · -6 pts · 69d
I don't think so... basically that would mean every sport could/should be called "football"...
Basketball = played on foot, not horse therefore football
Volleyball = played on foot, not horse therefore football
Baseball = no horse, football again
Hockey = believe it or not, football... maybe skate ball?
I am kidding of course, it seems nobody really knows and the 2 main theories are the one you mentioned (on foot, not on horse) vs kicking of a ball with your foot (and not your hand)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_(word)#Etymology
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 68d
Don't forget golf
missphant@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 8 pts · 69d
I barely know her
Kolanaki@pawb.social · 8 pts · 69d
IDK why we changed it from Gridiron. That shit sounds way cooler.
Skua@kbin.earth · 2 pts · 68d
Frankly, all of the different football games should get a proper name like that. Gridiron and rugby (both union and league) are both great names. You can call them gridiron football or rugby football if you want to be formal. Soccer is basically the same idea, being a shortening of association football. Now we just need counterparts for Australian and Gaelic
agent_nycto@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 67d
Gotta love it when people say "Americans tell everyone else what to do and how to do it" but also go "we should tell Americans what to do and how to do it"
prime_number_314159@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 67d
The hypocrisy knows no bounds! (For the Europeans out there, the hypocrisy knows no 1.609 metric bounds)
icerunner_origin@startrek.website · 6 pts · 69d
It's only soccer if they forget to wear their boots
Jankatarch@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 68d
Woah woah woah. I thought we agreed getting Americans to use A4 paper instead of 8.5x11 first, calculate by the metric instead of the imperial system second, measure economy by HDI instead of GDP third, and call it football instead of soccer last.
BigBananaDealer@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 67d
yeah, the NFL is the same exact way. every game starts with a foot kicking a ball, therefore it is football
soccer is short for association football, englanders created it, therefore it is soccer
trashboypro@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 67d
It's not a sphere, therefore it's not a ball. It's shaped like more like an egg.
You kick it once with your foot, then you carry it with your hand.
It's not football, its HANDEGG.
BigBananaDealer@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 67d
we'll call it handegg for a few years then switch back to football once europeans unanimously call it handegg, then we'll make fun of them for it
kerrigan778@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 4 pts · 67d
That ridiculous name was all Britain's fault
elevenbones@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 68d
Soccer? Hardly even know 'er.
JakenVeina@midwest.social · 4 pts · 68d
I'm sure this has been asked before, but what should American Football be renamed to, to avoid confusion?
lgmjon64@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 68d
Hand egg
MrPoletki@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 68d
The game has way more in common with Rugby.
We have Rugby League, Rugby Union. I'm sure could fit in a Rugby big girls blouse edition too.
LadyButterfly@reddthat.com · 1 pts · 68d
Namby pamby Rugby
TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 68d
Trying to apply logic at Americans. Waste of time. They still use imperial and call their sport football even though it's without using a foot and ball.
razzazzika@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 68d
The foot only hits the 'ball' for kickoffs and field goals. The rest of the timr its in their hands. Should call it handball. Used to call it pigskin football until they stopped using pig skin to make the weird balls.
stardustpathsofglory@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 68d
Handegg
tacosanonymous@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 67d
Handball is also a different game already.
wpb@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 68d
Why is is foot so far from the soccerball aren't you supposed to kick it?
Tim_Bisley@piefed.social · 4 pts · 69d
It's interesting how different aspects of US culture can trace its roots back to England.
Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 68d
So stupid in Italian it's calcio and nobody gives them shit
wasabi_noir@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 67d
NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 68d
Glen Hoddle is having a goal!
xia@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 68d
Compared to... sock-her?
Folstar@lemmus.org · 1 pts · 67d
“A good compromise is when both parties are dissatisfied”
― Larry David
Thusly, I call the boring game "soccer" and the often decided by refs game where everyone has brain damage "gridiron". Nobody wins, which is beautiful in its own way.
SirActionSack@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 67d
It's called soccer in places where it's a B or C tier sport. America, Australia, New Zealand at least have at least one other massively more popular sport called Football.
BigBananaDealer@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 67d
soccer is a D or F tier sport in america. all the best athletes go to football, basketball, baseball, or hockey
altphoto@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 69d
Shoeball or kick ball! Obviously Americans play football with their real feet. So it's football 🏈😂
LovableSidekick@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 67d
This is as pointless as arguing over truck vs lorry, or apartment vs flat.
NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 68d
What are they even all doing in here, anyway? Clearly starved for Greggs sausage roll banter in that benighted continent.
SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 68d
steeznson@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 68d
What does RFU stand for again?
Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 68d
“Really Fuckin’ uwu”
canniest_tod@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 68d
O shit
Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world · -3 pts · 68d
As a citizen of the US I can assure you that our football is more like a choreographed dance routine done by over paid no necks who are afraid to take a chance. The only sport I played as a kid that I enjoyed was 'soccer'. We were never told it was called foot ball every where else in the world. There is zero chance most americans will ever step away from that fake circus of manufactured glory.
liking625@lemmy.world · -4 pts · 68d
They use retarded measuring systems, can't call their own country by the right name and name it as the continent, they leave their fellow citizens die of illness if they can't pay for it, and sustain their economic system by waging war or provoking them, and their president cant hold his shit in, what did you expect?
Feathercrown@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 68d
Womp womp
RejZoR@lemmy.ml · -10 pts · 69d
They call their game American football and then they carry the ball in hands for like 99% of the time...
glimse@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 69d
They actually just call it football
jerkface@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 69d
In Canada we call "ice hockey" "hockey" and the former manages to irritate me every time, even though I don't actually care at all about hockey.
glimse@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 69d
I get that. It's like calling it "Old Mexico" because New Mexico exists. Nah man, it's just Mexico
atro_city@fedia.io · -25 pts · 69d
USAians are the only Americans who don't know this.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 8 pts · 69d
I'm pretty sure most Americans know everyone else calls it football
sudoMakeUser@sh.itjust.works · -9 pts · 69d
The last time I talked to an American they weren't sure if Canada was part of their country or not. I'm not confident in them being able to understand anything beyond what they can see.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 67d
Weirdly, I bet those people know about soccer v football.
Omnipitaph@reddthat.com · 6 pts · 69d
Everyone forgets that soccer is oxford slang for Association Football. So in a weird way, USAians call it football too :/
the_swagmaster@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 69d
I think the English speaking Canadians fall into this trap too. Hopefully they will learn after hosting the world cup 🙏
chuckleslord@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 68d
This fake affront to people from the US calling themselves American is really dumb, man. Yes, everyone from those two hemispheres can be called Americans, but most people don't have a stronger identity to their super continent than their country. Someone from Columbia isn't going to call themselves American and then get bothered when they have to clarify that they meant the super continent of North and South America.
People from North America identify as their country first, and North American second, if at all. They don't call themselves American unless they're from the states.
You don't hear people from Italy call themselves Eurasian. And if a new country formed from an alliance of middle eastern countries and called themselves The United Territories of Eurasia, I don't think any one would bat an eyelash over them calling themselves Eurasian, either. Dumb performative wankery is exhausting, man.
atro_city@fedia.io · -4 pts · 68d
It's "dumb" because you know I'm right. USAians think they represent everybody on the planet. Every film about aliens has some USAian speaking up on behalf of all humans. Supernatural occurrences only happen in the US. The "World Series" is, you guessed it, in the US.
Also, the French and Spanish literal translation is "USAians".
And Italians call themselves Italians, but because USAians can't find the country on a map nor understand that being Italian doesn't mean you're in the mob from New York, they have to say European. Sometimes that doesn't even help.
USAians don't represent 2 continents, much less the world. Suck it up.
chuckleslord@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 68d
Movies I'm presuming were made in Hollywood largely feature American protagonists? I'm shocked. Don't writers know they should presume to know other cultures instead? /s
What other languages call Americans is irrelevant. We're talking in English. Do you think it would be appropriate to call Germans Germans (the English word) in deutsche? Or Japanese people Japanese in their language? Japan, by the way, is actually a translation murdered Chinese name for their people. They refer to themselves as Nihonjin, well 日本人, literally people of the land of the rising sun.
America has always had a xenophobia problem. This means when large groups of immigrants arrive all at once, they're basically forced to rely on each other because the locals are pretty unfriendly. The result is an immigrant community whose country of origin becomes the thread that kept them all together. The Italians of New England are the Italians because that identity is what saved their community from honestly a really fucked up time. And yeah, the Italian mob also comes from that time period. If you can't earn money via legitimate means, crime is sometimes the only answer.
We know the difference between Italian Italian and Italian American.
We don't presume to represent two continents. The policy of our government and the views of the average American are not aligned in that way. Most Americans think we're the good guys, going out to stop bad guys. Like, actually. Yeah, it's stupid, but a lot of Americans are waking up to the reality of the situation, now. We're the most propagandized population on the planet, and it was only during covid that a lot of people saw the mask slip.
atro_city@fedia.io · -1 pts · 68d
What are you on about? What do cultures have to do with this? And USAian protags are regularly cast in different roles (note white-washing). And the "World Series" isn't just in the movies btw.
LMAO, sure, whatever you tell yourself to sleep at night. Most of you don't even know the shape of Italy, let alone the continent it's on.
No no no, of course not. This entire discussion wasn't you getting pissy about being called USAian. Sorry, completely misread that.
Where did I say this or imply it? I really hope English isn't your first language, because you're doing a pretty bad job at comprehending it.
chuckleslord@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 68d
To quote you, since you want to attack me rather than talk.
I'm not running another gish-gallop with you, man. I've said my piece and you've been ignoring everything I'm saying, trying to win your troll game. Enjoy, man, and may you have the day you deserve.