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If I'm talking to an English speaker from outside of the US, is there any confusion if I say "soccer"?

For example, when I was in college a friend asked for a "torch". I was confused for quite some time, because I didn't know it was another word for "flashlight". Does the same thing happen with the word "soccer"? Should I clarify by saying, "...or football"?

Thank you!

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[-] Taalen@lemmy.world 97 points 6 months ago

Not a native English speaker, but my hunch is, soccer will almost certainly be understood. Also it will identify you as American.

[-] otter@lemmy.ca 38 points 6 months ago
[-] wjrii@kbin.social 29 points 6 months ago

And Australia, at least when they're not trying to suck up to the British.

[-] HamSwagwich@showeq.com 6 points 6 months ago

And English... I've heard them use soccer as well on many occasions

[-] Cethin@lemmy.zip 14 points 6 months ago

Yeah, soccer is actually an English term that they created to refer to association football, as opposed to rugby football or the hundreds of other forms of football.

[-] CurlyWurlies4All@slrpnk.net 6 points 6 months ago

If an Englishman uses 'soccer' he's almost certainly from the upper class.

As “soccer” was played by the elite (such as the Oxford lad who is said to have coined “soccer”), it soon spread to the working classes, and became “football”.

[-] prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 months ago

And the British, at least when they’re not trying to make Americans look bad.

[-] Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

If you really want to throw them off, call it the proper name rather than the nick name. Association football. Most adult non-american english speakers are at least tangentially aware that the name soccer derived from that. But it certainly won't make you sound American.

[-] drcouzelis@lemmy.zip 2 points 6 months ago
[-] Zippy@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago

But if an American says football, that can create a bit of confusion.

this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2023
101 points (91.1% liked)

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