# Is America calling soccer "soccer" arrogant?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [June 19, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254 "2006-06-19T04:54:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/1 "2006-06-19T04:54:39Z")
From another message board:
> [@Commenter 1](#):
>
> rgh, I HATE when football is referred to as “soccer” so… much… it… it… the… it… the… fee… flames… flames… on the side of my face!!!
(PS: Points for the Clue ref.)
> [@Commenter 2](#):
>
> So do I, and I’m American born. It’s what I learned the game was called. My household spoke Spanish while I was growing up. The game where people kick a round black and white sphere was called futbol (with an accent), not “soccer”. Calling it anything else is ridiculous to me. I think the fact that Americans call it “soccer” is arrogant. It’s like the rules are different for us, even though the rest of the world has agreed to call it football, we have to be special and call it “soccer.” The lamest part for me is that American style football doesn’t even really use thier feet to play. Sorry it’s been a pet peeve of mine since I can remember.
I have to say, it does strike me as odd that this is the only country that seems to have a different word for this particular sport. I’m not sure I’d go as far as the second commenter, tho’.
Thoughts, everyone?
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/2 "2006-06-19T05:01:49Z")
“Soccer” comes from the game’s proper name, association football, [according to this page (and others)](http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,420024,00.html). The author says that the name “soccer” is actually British, and that the term is also used - maybe just some of the time - in Australia and Canada.
Basically, this sounds like one of those cases where people want to make up an excuse to call Americans arrogant and stupid, and they’ve latched on to a completely stupid example. If Moore is right, it says more about the complaining commentators than it does about Americans.
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### Author:  [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/3 "2006-06-19T05:04:34Z")
But why is American football called “football”? They use their feet only for running and the occasional kick.
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### Author:  [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/4 "2006-06-19T05:06:35Z")
I honestly wouldn’t know what to call it if I didn’t call it “soccer.” I reckon I could say “futbol” or “football”, but that would lead to countless cries of, “Wait, which one?!?” each and every day.
This is just an two guys who are themselves arogant, looking for a reason to call Americans arrogant. Woo!
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/5 "2006-06-19T05:08:45Z")
If it’s arrogant for Americans to say “soccer,” then it’s also arrogant for the British to say “lift” instead of “elevator.”
“Soccer” and “Football” are just two different ways of referring to the SAME THING, which is a game where a ball is kicked into a goal. Jesus! Let’s get along!
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### Author:  [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/6 "2006-06-19T05:22:27Z")
See, this is why I’ve taken to calling it “European football.” Now, instead of it being some special case, it’s right alongside Aussie rules football, Gaelic football and American football.
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### Author:  [@IGJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IGJoe)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/7 "2006-06-19T05:42:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> The author says that the name “soccer” is actually British, and that the term is also used - maybe just some of the time - in Australia and Canada.
Canadians generally call it “soccer”. I’ve known maybe two or three people that say “football” instead.
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### Author:  [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/8 "2006-06-19T05:43:44Z")
> [@Priceguy](#):
>
> But why is American football called “football”? They use their feet only for running and the occasional kick.
A cursory search on Wikipedia yielded no _immediate_ answer. It seems to me that it just sorta happened over time, as the Americans, when making changes to the game that distinguished it from rugby, may not have had anything else to call it. It seems that the two types of “football” were then called _rugger_ and _soccer_, which may have left the name “football” up for grabs, so to speak.
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### Author:  [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/9 "2006-06-19T05:48:02Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> “Soccer” comes from the game’s proper name, association football, [according to this page (and others)](http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,420024,00.html). The author says that the name “soccer” is actually British, and that the term is also used - maybe just some of the time - in Australia and Canada.
It’s historically been known as soccer in Australia. And in New Zealand too. Its supporters in Australia have made strong attempts in recent times to get Australians to call it football. I’m not sure how successful they’ve been.
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/10 "2006-06-19T06:25:21Z")
I don’t have a cite, but rugby, soccer, and american football were all called football back in the day in British universities. Rules weren’t formal and so if you wanted to play some football not everybody agreed on which one you were going to play. They started calling different set of the rules by different names such as association football with gets shortend to soccer.
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### Author:  [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/11 "2006-06-19T06:47:03Z")
If Americans are insisting that everyone else call it soccer, then that would be arrogant. Otherwise, no.
Anyway, in Japan both terms are used. The primary term used by the J-League on their [official site](http://www.j-league.or.jp/eng/mission/) is “football”, but it’s not uncommon to encounter “soccer” on TV and in print.
The game played with helmets and a pointy ball is called “American Football” or “amefuto” and there is a Japan American Football League.
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### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/12 "2006-06-19T11:25:18Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> “Soccer” comes from the game’s proper name, association football, [according to this page (and others)](http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,420024,00.html). The author says that the name “soccer” is actually British, and that the term is also used - maybe just some of the time - in Australia and Canada.
I grew up in Australia, and we only ever called it soccer.
Furthermore, Australians aren’t even consistent in the sport they call “football.”
If you’re from Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth, then by football you probably mean Australian Rules football. If you’re from Sydney, Canberra, or Brisbane, you might mean Aussie Rules, but you might also mean rugby league or even (less frequently) rugby union.
BTW, my answer to the OP: no, definitely not.
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### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/13 "2006-06-19T11:31:38Z")
Considering that the [American Youth Soccer Organization](http://soccer.org/) uses the name for the sport they’re trying to popularize in this country, I highly doubt it’s arrogance that fuels the use of the term.
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/14 "2006-06-19T12:27:30Z")
English people have used the expression as well, especially if they went to a public school (English usage) where Rugby was the traditional sport. There’s a reference in one of George MacDonald Fraser’s “McAuslan” stories, where one of the Glaswegian squaddies is in a regimental quiz and confirms to the quizmaster that he does indeed mean “soccer” when he says “football”. So no, it’s not in the least arrogant on the part of Americans, although it’s unusual to see you rebellious colonials lining up with _upper-class_ English affectations. 😃
“Elevator”? An elevator is part of an aeroplane, my good man. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/15 "2006-06-19T12:33:57Z")
> [@Priceguy](#):
>
> But why is American football called “football”? They use their feet only for running and the occasional kick.
Why should that be a consideration?
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/16 "2006-06-19T12:50:04Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> Why should that be a consideration?
Well, because of the whole “foot” th…
_gives up_
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### Author:  [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/17 "2006-06-19T12:50:13Z")
> [@mhendo](#):
>
> I grew up in Australia, and we only ever called it soccer.
>
> Furthermore, Australians aren’t even consistent in the sport they call “football.”
> BTW, my answer to the OP: no, definitely not.
Football to me always meant Rugby. I loathe rugby but the All Blacks meant football to me ie :“I went to the football” meant someone went to a rugby game.
I am well aware that this World Cup is wanting to claim the name football (and so it should! It is the real football!) but the term football has been owned by many sports in many countries.
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### Author:  [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/18 "2006-06-19T12:52:21Z")
> [@Malacandra](#):
>
> “Elevator”? An elevator is part of an aeroplane, my good man. :rolleyes:
Psst… it’s spelled “Airplane” 😉
An Elevator is a boxy device used to move people up and down between floors where stairs would be impractical or inconvenient (or, to be honest, where they would require actual effort). A Lift is a kind of shoe. A Pint is merely an undersized Pitcher. 😛
But yeah, we’re not arrogant because we call the game Soccer. That’s not to say we’re not arrogant, but what we call Soccer has nothing to do with it. 😃
Mostly we call the game Soccer so as not to confuse it with Football. On that note, everyone else calls our Football names like “American Football” or “Futbol Norteamericano” or “Rugy for Pansies” etc. We could call it “American Football” but that would be silly, at least from our POV. Hence, Soccer to tell it apart from the sport that mostly only gets played in our country. Similarly, I’ve never met ANYONE in Texas who called Texas Tea “Texas Tea”. We just call it tea. 😃
As for why we call football football, from what I understand, we call it that because the game is descended from the same game Soccer is descended from, so both happened to come up with a common name despite the various changes to the game making the actual use of feet relatively limited in our version of the game.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/19 "2006-06-19T13:08:22Z")
Association Football --\> Football in locations where it is the dominant sport, Soccer in many others
Australian Rules Football --\> Football in locations where it is popular
American Football --\> Football, in North America where it is the most popular game of its type
Gaelic Football --\> Football, in some areas where it is popular
Anyone spot a pattern? There’s no arrogance in any of it.
The exception is rugby, with AFAIK neither code getting called ‘football’ regularly, anywhere.
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2006, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-calling-soccer-soccer-arrogant/361254/20 "2006-06-19T13:27:40Z")
> [@Raguleader](#):
>
> Psst… it’s spelled “Airplane” 😉
No, that’s the name of a funny movie.
> [@Raguleader](#):
>
> An Elevator is a boxy device used to move people up and down between floors where stairs would be impractical or inconvenient (or, to be honest, where they would require actual effort). A Lift is a kind of shoe.
No, a “boot” is part of a car, a “trunk” is part of an elephant…
> [@Raguleader](#):
>
> A Pint is merely an undersized Pitcher. 😛
I thought that was baseball? Now I’m really lost. 😕
heh… a Pint is merely an undersized Pint, m’friend. Over here we drink 'em 20oz at a time… [zombie voice]Join usss… Join usss…[/zv]
> [@Raguleader](#):
>
> But yeah, we’re not arrogant because we call the game Soccer. That’s not to say we’re not arrogant, but what we call Soccer has nothing to do with it. 😃
Damn Yanks with their “candy” bars and their chewing gum and their cheap nylons. (What were GIs doing being issued with nylons anyway?)
> [@Raguleader](#):
>
> Mostly we call the game Soccer so as not to confuse it with Football. On that note, everyone else calls our Football names like “American Football” or “Futbol Norteamericano” or “Rugy for Pansies” etc. We could call it “American Football” but that would be silly, at least from our POV. Hence, Soccer to tell it apart from the sport that mostly only gets played in our country. Similarly, I’ve never met ANYONE in Texas who called Texas Tea “Texas Tea”. We just call it tea. 😃
>
> As for why we call football football, from what I understand, we call it that because the game is descended from the same game Soccer is descended from, so both happened to come up with a common name despite the various changes to the game making the actual use of feet relatively limited in our version of the game.
And that’s right on the money. When you get back to the roots, “football” was less a game involving kicking a ball around, and more about an orchestrated fight between neighbouring villages, with an inflated bladder as the _causus belli_.
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