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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”.

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[-] MrNesser@lemmy.world 69 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

English people understand the limitations Americans have to live under when it comes to language

Edit: jesus you make little high brow joke and all the idiots gets butthurt.

[-] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 52 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

We had to call it soccer. We already had a sport called competitive diving.

[-] WashedOver@lemmy.ca 12 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

When I get asked if I watch soccer as a hockey fan I have the same feelings. The Women's version of soccer is much tougher and I would rather watch that. They take a beating and get bloodied but keep playing unlike the men falling over including the coaches from being brushed by a piece of paper.

This video does a good job capturing the differences between coaches: https://youtu.be/9HxzLEqI-qE?si=VPWHKI081v80eA3k

This one does a great job highlighting the competition diving angle. I think ~~artist~~ *artistic diving might be more applicable though: https://youtu.be/_OXdfJgCmLc?si=7n-tIrOIsxznm49W

[-] MrNesser@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago

Isn't American football just rugby with padding /jk

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[-] irish_link@lemmy.world 47 points 6 months ago

You do realize the word Soccer for the actual game originated in England right?

It just so happened that “Rugby football” got shortened to Rugby and this “Associa toon (Socker) football” got shortened to Football.

Since since an American sport came around the same time called “Football” they kept the name “Soccer” for Association Football.

Just letting you know a little back story.

A small article about it can be found here. https://www.britannica.com/story/why-do-some-people-call-football-soccer And there are plenty more info out there about it.

[-] mysoulishome@lemmy.world 27 points 6 months ago

I’m going to call them soccer football and American football from now on

[-] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 6 months ago

I'm going to be an insufferable pedant and reply, "Do you mean association football or rugby football?" whenever anyone uses either :P

[-] wjrii@kbin.social 5 points 6 months ago

For a while, the governing body in the US was the United State Soccer Football Association, so you're good, and it's also some good trolling of the zealots on either side of the "debate."

[-] WashedOver@lemmy.ca 5 points 6 months ago

I refer to Soccer the football played with your foot and then the American version as " Egg-ball" played with your hands.

That said I'm also Canadian and for many years in our small "hand egg-ball" league we had 2 teams with very similar club names called the Rough Riders and the Roughriders so I shouldn't be throwing so many stones...

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[-] wjrii@kbin.social 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

It would require more research than I'm willing to do, but the only part of that article that set off my sports-history-nerd Spidey Sense was this:

In full, it was known as gridiron football, but most people never bothered with the first word.

I don't know that anyone actually involved in playing or codifying the game ever used "gridiron football" in anything like the same official way that Association football or Rugby football were used. It feels much more like outside observers trying to impose logical categories from afar, British exceptionalism at its finest. AFAIK, gridiron was always used as a nickname for the field, and the sport itself was only ever widely referred to as "football," American exceptionalism at its finest.

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[-] matthewmercury@reddthat.com 16 points 6 months ago

Do English people know that they originated “soccer” as Oxford slang for “association football?” Nothing hits like the English ignorantly shitting on their colonies for adopting the stupid English practices forced upon them by the English at the time.

[-] MrNesser@lemmy.world 28 points 6 months ago

English shitting on our colonies is our favourite past time. You should come along sometime.

[-] duffkiligan@lemmy.world 8 points 6 months ago

America isn’t a British colony, we won a whole war about that.

[-] Th4tGuyII@kbin.social 11 points 6 months ago

Isn't now, but it was a colony, and that's more than enough for us to shit on it

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[-] frankPodmore@slrpnk.net 24 points 6 months ago

No, we understand. In fact, if anything it's easier if you say soccer! If someone with an American accent says 'football' I normally assume they mean gridiron, so sayings soccer is actually a little clearer.

Of course, in different parts of the world, 'football' might mean rugby (either union or league), Gaelic football or Aussie rules football. So, the potential for confusion is pretty wide!

[-] wjrii@kbin.social 11 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

This. 'Soccer' is well understood and unambiguous, though it might prompt certain assumptions depending on your audience. There are times and places you might prefer to say 'football' to mean 'Association football,' but if you just need to communicate simple factual information in two syllables, it's probably the best word for that.

[-] ABCDE@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

There are times and places you might prefer to say ‘football’

Even countries or continents.

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[-] Delphia@lemmy.world 14 points 6 months ago

In Australia we have Soccer, Aussie rules football (AFL), Rugby Union (Union) and Rugby league (Usually referred to as "League" or "NRL") all of them also known as "Football"

I have a pretty deep burning hatred for people who insist on correcting people when they say Soccer. It honestly just makes you look like a twat "yOu mEaN wHaT tHe rEsT oF thE WoRld CalLs foOTbALl!?!" Like you fucking understood well enough to know this was your moment to open your cockholster and needlessly add that little tidbit like anyone else was confused.

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[-] markr@lemmy.world 12 points 6 months ago

From now on I’m calling it Foot Football. That other game is Hand Football.

[-] ivanafterall@kbin.social 18 points 6 months ago
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[-] SkyNTP@lemmy.ml 4 points 6 months ago

Jokes aside, for those who don't know, the real nomenclature is association football (origin of the word soccer) and gridiron football, respectively. Many more types and subtypes of football too!

[-] hactar42@lemmy.world 12 points 6 months ago

I'm an American who lived in England for a couple of years. Due to American media the majority of everyone understood what I meant when I said things like soccer, trunk or hood of a car, fries, etc. Words with different meanings between the two could get confusing like biscuit, chips, or pissed.

Since soccer doesn't have another meaning I never ran into someone who didn't know what I was talking about. However, when saying football in an American accent some thought I was referring to American Football by default.

I can only remember one instant where someone did not know what I was talking about. That was when I asked someone at work where the dumpster was and I got a blank stare. I explained, the big metal thing outside for trash and they were like, "oh the skip"

[-] Th4tGuyII@kbin.social 10 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

While it will absolutely out you as a US American, we will understand - same as when you say "Candy" and similar common Americanisms

Edit: Also, while mostly used to refer to flashlights as you guys call them, torch can also refer to other non-lantern light-emitting instruments

[-] Xariphon@kbin.social 8 points 6 months ago

... wtf else do you call candy?

[-] Th4tGuyII@kbin.social 9 points 6 months ago

As others have said, sweets

[-] guyrocket@kbin.social 4 points 6 months ago

Wait...I think you're saying that Brits call candy sweets...maybe...

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[-] ivanafterall@kbin.social 4 points 6 months ago

Wee Confectionary Yum Yums

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[-] quackers@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 6 months ago

It's ok, we know you guys are weird.

[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

It is just football all over the world, in contrast to American "football".

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[-] BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works 7 points 6 months ago

Everyone understands, most gringe.

[-] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

Most won't be confused at all. They might be surprised but pretty simple logic would result in a fast realisation of what you actually mean. I am surprised though, that you, as an English speaking person couldn't figure out that a torch might refer to a flash light.

[-] morphballganon@lemmy.world 10 points 6 months ago

Torch has another common meaning though. Does soccer?

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[-] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 5 points 6 months ago

Because we have actual torches too. You guys don't have actual soccers to get confused by. Given the right context we can figure out when you mean flashlight, but said torch.

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[-] drcouzelis@lemmy.zip 5 points 6 months ago

Haha it's true! When my Malaysian friend asked me for a torch, I was running around for five minutes looking for a lighter, like this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aKrxd1q3Mw&t=8

It's all I could picture, no one ever asked me for a TORCH before. Like in Indiana Jones?? 😅

Until I stopped and asked, "Wait, what do you need it for?"

"To look at my car, something is wrong with the engine."

...and that's when I realized. We had a good laugh.

[-] kindenough@kbin.social 5 points 6 months ago

Ah yes no worries, we even heard about them Soccer moms here in Europe.

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

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