It never takes long if you find yourself watching a big World Cup match at a party or pub before the inevitable question comes up: why do some people - and particularly Americans - insist on calling football "soccer"?
Inevitably, someone pipes up in a loud voice about Americans ignorantly renaming the sport to suit themselves, while another suggests that the NFL is to blame for the confusion.
Well, now you can wade in and inform both parties that they are the misguided and ignorant ones. Politely and amicably, of course, though we'll allow you a little smugness.
The word "soccer" is actually British. It derives from the game's proper name, association football, with the "soc" bit taken from the word "association" .
The reason it came into popular usage was simple: in the 19th century, football and rugby were both commonly known as football, the former dubbed "association football" and the latter "rugby football". But both phrases are a bit of a mouthful, however, so they were popularly shortened to "soccer" and "rugger" to keep things simple.
https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blog...ed-don-t-blame-usa-real-reason-123344142.html
So for the English speaking world, Soccer is the proper name for the sport
Inevitably, someone pipes up in a loud voice about Americans ignorantly renaming the sport to suit themselves, while another suggests that the NFL is to blame for the confusion.
Well, now you can wade in and inform both parties that they are the misguided and ignorant ones. Politely and amicably, of course, though we'll allow you a little smugness.
The word "soccer" is actually British. It derives from the game's proper name, association football, with the "soc" bit taken from the word "association" .
The reason it came into popular usage was simple: in the 19th century, football and rugby were both commonly known as football, the former dubbed "association football" and the latter "rugby football". But both phrases are a bit of a mouthful, however, so they were popularly shortened to "soccer" and "rugger" to keep things simple.
https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blog...ed-don-t-blame-usa-real-reason-123344142.html
So for the English speaking world, Soccer is the proper name for the sport
