# People raised in the US: Did you ever ponder why football is called that? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 5, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635 "2010-07-05T21:30:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/41 "2010-07-06T01:25:57Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#): > > “Soccer” is slang for “as **SOC** iation football”. It has always been slang - it has never been the proper name. The proper name has always been football. They only added the “association” on to it when it became organised in the 19th century. > > Before that it was just called football. Shakespeare mentions it when someone insults someone else by calling them “You base football player” in King Lear. He also mentions it in Comedy of Errors. > > It was an insult because football back then was played by the rowdy masses. One village would challenge the neighbouring village to a game. The pitch was a mile long, the ball was a pig’s bladder and the general idea was to kick the shit out of each other. Back in Shakespeare’s day, football was a game for uncivilised people, the underclass, the drunken rowdy mob. The first time it got banned in England for being too rowdy was in 1324. But it _was_ called football back then (because you used your feet to propel the ball). You got a cite for any of your ramblin? Don’t get me wrong–AFAIK, “soccer” is from “association football.” Just the other stuff. ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/42 "2010-07-06T01:38:50Z")
> **[Football | Ancient games](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football#Ancient_games)** > > The Chinese competitive game cuju is an early type of ball game where feet were used, in some aspects resembling modern association football. It was possibly played around the Han dynasty and early Qin dynasty, based on an attestation in a military manual from around the second to third centuries BC. In one version, gameplay consisted of players passing the ball between teammates without allowing it to touch the ground (much like keepie uppie). > In its competitive version, two teams ha > [@](#): > > Numerous attempts have been made to ban football games, particularly the most rowdy and disruptive forms. This was especially the case in England and in other parts of Europe, during the Middle Ages and early modern period. Between 1324 and 1667, football was banned in England alone by more than 30 royal and local laws. The need to repeatedly proclaim such laws demonstrated the difficulty in enforcing bans on popular games. King Edward II was so troubled by the unruliness of football in London that on April 13, 1314 he issued a proclamation banning it: “Forasmuch as there is great noise in the city caused by hustling over large balls from which many evils may arise which God forbid; we command and forbid, on behalf of the King, on pain of imprisonment, such game to be used in the city in the future.” > > The reasons for the ban by Edward III, on June 12, 1349, were explicit: football and other recreations distracted the populace from practicing archery, which was necessary for war. In 1424, the Parliament of Scotland passed a Football Act that stated it is statut and the king forbiddis that na man play at the fut ball under the payne of iiij d - in other words, playing football was made illegal, and punishable by a fine of four pence. > > By 1608, the local authorities in Manchester were complaining that: “With the ffotebale…[there] hath beene greate disorder in our towne of Manchester we are told, and glasse windowes broken yearlye and spoyled by a companie of lewd and disordered persons …”[24] That same year, the word “football” was used disapprovingly by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s play King Lear contains the line: “Nor tripped neither, you base football player” (Act I, Scene 4). Shakespeare also mentions the game in A Comedy of Errors (Act II, Scene 1): > > Am I so round with you as you with me, > That like a football you do spurn me thus? > You spurn me hence, and he will spurn me hither: > If I last in this service, you must case me in leather. > > “Spurn” literally means to kick away, thus implying that the game involved kicking a ball between players ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/43 "2010-07-06T01:44:04Z")
I always thought it was called a football because it was roughly foot-shaped. (Until I learned the real reason, like at 10). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/44 "2010-07-06T02:04:04Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > If you are not joking: why? > > Did you not consider that in soccer people use their feet most of the time to advance the ball, to pass, and to score, while in American football contact between a ball and a foot happens very rarely? Yes, but it’s called soccer to us (in Canada; the USA is not the only place it’s called soccer. It’s also called soccer in Australia, is apparently called that by many South Africans, and even the Japanese call it “Saka.”) We don’t wonder why football (our version) is called football any more than we wonder why cats are called cats or a computer mouse is called a mouse even though it is not a little rodent. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/45 "2010-07-06T02:07:21Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > Yet more proof that Americans can’t name sports properly, since they are the ones calling it soccer 🙂 It’s soccer because they always fight and sock people. I guess we could call it Brawling, but that would confuse the bowlers, which is another sport Brits are confused about. Bowling in America is done in lanes in a building. Bowling in England is outdoors on a lawn. Skittles in America is a popular candy. Skittles in England is a a weird indoor bowling. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/46 "2010-07-06T02:22:45Z")
In 1905 there was a push to ban most football due to all the serious injures and deaths. This is the year changes were set in motion and Roosevelt was involved with pushing the changes. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/47 "2010-07-06T02:36:02Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > I thought that maybe some kids, especially of the SDMB variety, would be a bit more curious and question some basic things that they are taught. I actually tried to snark about it as a kid, and quickly realized I couldn’t maintain the sarcasm. _"Wait – **football?** Why do they call it **football?** Do they get so impressed by the kickoff at the start that they don’t notice what happens for the rest of the game? I mean, sure, the entire goal every time you get the ball is to reach the other end zone so you can then kick for a point. But if you can’t quite make it that far, the entire goal is – okay, to kick for three points. But if you can’t make it **that** far, the goal is to – uh, kick the ball far away, so the other team’s kicker will have to kick it back instead of, y’know, kicking for a point or three. I’m going to stop talking now._ I didn’t yet know about the two-point conversion. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/48 "2010-07-06T02:43:50Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > So, does that mean my streak of never being wrong about anything ever is still intact? No - because if it goes into overtime, there’s still a third kick to start the overtime period. I guess the game could end on a safety as time expires. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/49 "2010-07-06T02:47:13Z")
I wonder if they would require the punt after a safety if the safety happened with no time left in regulation. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/50 "2010-07-06T02:55:36Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > For people raised in the US, as a kid did you ever wonder why a game in which, most of the time, nobody kicks the ball with their foot (people mainly just pass the ball with their hands or hold the ball with their hands and run, and only during rare moments does someone actually get to use their foot on the ball), why such a game would be called ‘football’? Yes. We did wonder that. We then learned the history of the various modern sports that had the same type of game as their genesis, and we go over it. And we think it’s obnoxious that we must discuss it every time the World Cup comes around. People call the same thing different things, it’s not a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/51 "2010-07-06T03:38:13Z")
I’m an American football fan and, FWIW, I’ve long felt that “tackle” [or maybe “tackling”] would be a more rational name for the game, given its distinctive physicality and centrality to the game. Every play, including special-teams kicking, involves blocking and tackling. But I also sometimes feel that a more rational name for soccer would be “diving,” so you probably shouldn’t take me too seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/52 "2010-07-06T05:16:17Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Yes. We did wonder that. We then learned the history of the various modern sports that had the same type of game as their genesis, and we go over it. And we think it’s obnoxious that we must discuss it every time the World Cup comes around. People call the same thing different things, it’s not a big deal. Who said it was a big deal? ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/53 "2010-07-06T08:43:43Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > For people raised in the US, as a kid did you ever wonder why a game in which, most of the time, nobody kicks the ball with their foot (people mainly just pass the ball with their hands or hold the ball with their hands and run, and only during rare moments does someone actually get to use their foot on the ball), why such a game would be called ‘football’? > > I checked out Wikipedia and it does have a reasonable explanation for the name of the game, but I’m wondering if you ever personally felt like ‘WTF?’ about the name. No, I never wondered, because it’s the only sport I saw anyone playing that had kicking in it. Incidentally, I cannot express the level of disdain I’ve reached for non-Americans who cannot seem to get over the fact that someone might use a different term from theirs. The number of people on this board and on the net in general who trot out this as some sign of wrong-headedness is simply amazing and appalling. If you didn’t know this, you’re forgiven. John Cleese is not. Let me give you a counter demonstration. Ahem: “You eat gross stuff and you only have about one sport and you use the wrong words for all kinds of stuff and the queen is ugly.” There, I’ve given an accurate and inoffensive assessment of Britain. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/54 "2010-07-06T08:58:22Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Bowling in America is done in lanes in a building. > Bowling in England is outdoors on a lawn. Except that it’s called [bowls](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowls) when played on a lawn. Never bowling. And we do have ten-pin bowling in this country. Which (unsurprisingly) we call bowling. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/55 "2010-07-06T09:10:24Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > Except that it’s called [bowls](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowls) when played on a lawn. Never bowling. In America its always lawn bowling or, more commonly, Bocce. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/56 "2010-07-06T09:17:15Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > As far as I know, American football was derived from rugby which was, in turn, derived from soccer. The name ‘football’ was carried down and (apparently) eventually dropped by rugby players. Rugby was not derived from association football, and Web Ellis likely did not pick up the ball and run with it at Rugby school. The two sports evolved together at the same time, and even in the mid-to-late nineteenth century there were still substantial differences between the style of football (soccer) played in different parts of the UK. The Sheffield rules effectively brought in the heading game, for instance, and allowed players to catch the ball from a throw-in and call “safe” (still a rule in rugby, if you catch the ball in the 22). There’s a rugby club in Edinburgh that’s the second oldest football (of any code) club in the world. It’s called “Edinburgh Academical Football Club”, and was formed when rugby and football were essentially the same game, hence no mention of rugby in the name of the club. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/57 "2010-07-06T13:56:00Z")
What’s strange about this recurring complaint is that **most of the English speaking world calls the game being played at the World Cup "soccer.**" In the language being used here, “soccer” is not an unusual, minority regionalism, it’s the preferred term by people who speak English as a first language. And that’s not solely because the USA has a huge population; again, it’s called soccer by most people in Canada, Australia, South Africa (does nobody notice they named one of the new stadia Soccer City Stadium?) and, I believe, New Zealand, although I think there it’s called both. In fact, in 2005 Australia’s official federation renamed itself the Australian Soccer Federation to align its name with what Australians actually called the sport. To an Australian, “Football” usually means Australian football, not soccer or North American football. So in English, the majority of people call the sport “soccer.” Deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/58 "2010-07-06T14:08:30Z")
> [@The\_Scrivener](#): > > I’m an American football fan and, FWIW, I’ve long felt that “tackle” [or maybe “tackling”] would be a more rational name for the game, given its distinctive physicality and centrality to the game. Every play, including special-teams kicking, involves blocking and tackling. “Tackle football” isn’t a completely unheard of name for the sport in western Canada although you’d sound a bit archaic calling it that. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/59 "2010-07-06T14:49:19Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Because they were obviously named after the ball used: > > Baseball > Basketball > Football > Soccer(ball) > Tennis(ball) > Ping Pong(ball) > Golf(ball) > > Should golf be called Clubs? Should tennis be called Raquet? Please, _please_ tell me this is a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/60 "2010-07-06T14:54:42Z")
I’ll take folks at their word that it used to be played more with the feet. But when I was a kid, any movies, TV shows, cartoons, comics or whatever involving football always had scenes that revolved around kicking; everything from Charlie Brown & Lucy to your standard tension filled film climax where the field goal will win the game. So regardless of how much passing may go on these days, my _awareness_ of football always involved kicking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635.md?page=4)