Why Do Some People Call Football Soccer | Britannica
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One of the best-known differences between British and American English is the fact that the sport known as football in Great Britain is usually called soccer in the United States.

One of the best-known differences between British and American English is the fact that the sport known as football in Great Britain is usually called soccer in the United States. Because the sport originated in England, it is often assumed that soccer is an Americanism. In fact, the word is thoroughly British in origin. So why is it that Americans (not to mention Canadians, Australians, and others) are likelier to use the word than Brits are? The answer lies in how the sport developed in each country.

  • CombatWombat@feddit.onlineOPEnglish
    9·
    6 days ago

    As a soccer sayer myself, it hurts me to give football sayers such power, but I just think with the World Cup coming up in the United States, it’s important to inform you all of the existence of the long form version of soccer, assoccer:

    Linguistically creative students at the University of Oxford in the 1880s distinguished between the sports of “rugger” (rugby football) and “assoccer” (association football). The latter term was further shortened to “soccer” (sometimes spelled “socker”), and the name quickly spread beyond the campus.

  • SanguinePar@lemmy.world
    4·
    6 days ago

    It’ll always be football to me, but I’m not bothered by people saying soccer when they have something else they call football (which I’d call American football).

    Online, if I’m in a place where there’s likely to be ambiguity, I’ve taken to referring to football ⚽ and football 🏈 and that seems to do the trick.

    • CombatWombat@feddit.onlineOPEnglish
      2·
      5 days ago

      Setting jokes aside, literally all I want from football sayers is to not give me a hard time for saying soccer or when I have to ask which football when it’s ambiguous. The whole schtick of being the world’s game is being tolerant of other people’s culture and dialect.

  • rose56@lemmy.zip
    2·
    6 days ago

    Because of the USA and their called football, when they play with hands! Hands !
    I would suggest calling it handball, but it’s taken already, so we have to find another one.

    • CombatWombat@feddit.onlineOPEnglish
      2·
      5 days ago

      The pejorative I use is “handegg.” I use “gridiron” when talking with nfl fans if I’m feeling particularly polite. The only other nickname I use is “rugby”, the rest of the footballs I call by their full government name.