# 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:** 4
**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, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/61 "2010-07-06T15:09:28Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > 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. They named the stadium Soccer City because Football City is trademarked by an Australian retailer. No, in South Africa it’s called football, and is presided over by the [South African Football Association](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Football_Association). _Soccer_, as in Britain, is a nickname - and the name soccer is occasionally used in Britain the same way (as in the charity Soccer Aid). ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/62 "2010-07-06T15:53:44Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Minimum would be three: > > Start of 1st half > Start of 2nd half > > and one of: > After a score > Start of overtime Minimum would be two. Kick off for each half. There is no ‘overtime’ in football. However in cup competitions there can be Extra Time if the tie is even after 90 minutes. The only exception to this is if Manchester Utd are at home in a league match and the match is tied the game enters ‘Fergie Time’ whereupon the match continues until Utd score. ---
**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, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/63 "2010-07-06T16:05:47Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > There is no ‘overtime’ in football. He wasn’t talking about soccer, he was talking about football. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/64 "2010-07-06T16:17:07Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#): > > Back in Shakespeare’s day, football was a game for uncivilised people, the underclass, the drunken rowdy mob. Plus ca change, eh? [QUOTE=RickJay] 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.” [/QUOTE] Indeed. We like to take the piss out of Americans and others for calling it soccer, but in fact that term is and always has been commonly used here (Britain). There are several TV programmes, magazines etc. with the word “soccer” in the title. I think it’s partly because Americans always call it soccer, apart from that small band of aficionados who follow the game closely. And also perhaps because, over here, “soccer” is sometimes used by people who prefer rugby or other varieties of football, and who maybe resent the idea that “football” automatically means association football. Coming from them, “soccer” can sound a little dismissive. But you’re right, there is no actual basis for rolling our eyes when people call it soccer. ---
**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, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/65 "2010-07-06T16:54:35Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > No, in South Africa it’s called football, and is presided over by the [South African Football Association](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Football_Association). _Soccer_, as in Britain, is a nickname - and the name soccer is occasionally used in Britain the same way (as in the charity Soccer Aid). It seems trivially easy to find references to South Africans calling the sport “soccer.” I mean, just just a quick Google search and read person after person explaining why it’s called soccer in South Africa. In fact, it’s frequently referred to as “soccer” _on the website of the South African Football Association._ The fact that SAFA calls itself that doesn’t necessarily mean common people don’t say “soccer.” As I’ve pointed out, the Australian association used to use “football” even though Australians call it soccer, and now that I think about it, Canada’s two pro soccer teams are official styled with the word “football” even though Canadians call it soccer. Even French Canadians call it _le soccer_. It certainly seems that a LOT of South Africans call the sport soccer. And the point remains that most people who grow up speaking English call it soccer. ---
**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, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/66 "2010-07-06T17:00:37Z")
You have missed the point entirely- or not actually read my post, more likely. As I pointed out, _Britons_ call it soccer sometimes. However, that is not the _primary_ name of the sport in Britain, and it isn’t in South Africa either. There are several posts from South Africans about this in the main WC thread, and the “WTF a tie?” Pit thread. > [@](#): > > And the point remains that most people who grow up speaking English call it soccer. More than half of all the people who speak English as a first language are American, so that is rather less than surprising. ---
**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, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/67 "2010-07-06T17:54:58Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > More than half of all the people who speak English as a first language are American, so that is rather less than surprising. Again, this is a matter I went to some effort to address in my first post on the matter; as the populations of Canada and Australia both call it soccer, and it appears quite a great many South Africans and most New Zealanders do as well, the overwhelming population of the USA isn’t the only reason most English speakers call it soccer. If the population of the United States was exactly the same as the UK’s, it would still be the case that most people raised speaking English would call it “soccer.” “Soccer” is in fact the standard term for the sport in most of the English-speaking world. ---
**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, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/68 "2010-07-06T17:56:44Z")
What part of this don’t you understand? South Africans call it football. _Sometimes_ they call it soccer. The equivalent is “gridiron” for football (though soccer is more common) or “fucking boring” for baseball. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/69 "2010-07-06T18:05:18Z")
Think of ALL the things for which Americans and Britons use different words. Why do you people get your knickers/panties in a bunch every four years on this ONE thing? ---
**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, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/70 "2010-07-06T18:09:46Z")
Speaking for myself, I’ll have you know my panties are _constantly_ bunched. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/71 "2010-07-06T19:07:07Z")
Back to the OP: I always figured it was because every score ends in a kick unless time has expired, of course. You score 3 with your foot and after you score 6, you get one more for 1. Then you go and kick it again. > [@Munch](#): > > 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. You don’t need safeties _or_ the end of the game. What if, in the final seconds of the first half, you score a TD and then go for the conversion? Then you kick off to start the second half. That’s only two kicks and the game wasn’t even tied at the half, let alone require overtime. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/72 "2010-07-06T19:40:32Z")
Add Ireland to the list of countries that call the World Cup sport “soccer”. “Football”, there, means Gaelic rules football. What all are the English-speaking countries that _do_ call it “football”? It seems like that’d be a shorter list. Meanwhile, look at all the countries that speak romance languages, but call the World Cup sport “futbol” or something similar, instead of “pedbol”. While we’re at it, the reason the sport (any version of it) is called “football” isn’t even because of the kicking in the first place. It’s because the players are all on foot, as opposed to polo. ---
**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, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/73 "2010-07-06T20:02:41Z")
Considering that _polo_ doesn’t appear in English until 1872, while _football_ was recorded as early as 1409, I give you an A+ for creativity and an F- for accuracy. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/74 "2010-07-06T20:05:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > While we’re at it, the reason the sport (any version of it) is called “football” isn’t even because of the kicking in the first place. It’s because the players are all on foot, as opposed to polo. Exactly. This is what I was referring to when I mentioned that Wikipedia had a good explanation for the name. To those who misunderstood: The OP was not meant to disparage people who call American football ‘football’. I was just curious if kids, not knowing the etymology of football mentioned by **Chronos** above, where curious enough to wonder about the name of a sport in which the foot and the ball don’t come into that much contact (considering the entire duration of the game) ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/75 "2010-07-06T20:32:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Considering that _polo_ doesn’t appear in English until 1872, while _football_ was recorded as early as 1409, I give you an A+ for creativity and an F- for accuracy. From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football#Etymology) > [@](#): > > While it is widely assumed that the word “football” (or “foot ball”) references the action of the foot kicking a ball, there is a historical explanation, which is that football originally referred to a variety of games in medieval Europe, which were played on foot.[2] These games were usually played by peasants, as opposed to the horse-riding sports (such as polo) often played by aristocrats. There is no conclusive evidence for either explanation, and the word football has always implied a variety of games played on foot, not just those that involved kicking a ball. In some cases, the word football has even been applied to games which have specifically outlawed kicking the ball. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/76 "2010-07-06T20:35:55Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Considering that _polo_ doesn’t appear in English until 1872, while _football_ was recorded as early as 1409, I give you an A+ for creativity and an F- for accuracy. The word “polo” may be new, but English gentry has been playing games on horseback since the middle ages. The commoners, being common, played on foot. With a ball. Hence, “foot-ball”. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/77 "2010-07-06T20:44:37Z")
Nope, it’s hardly the only case in which there’s a disparity of English terms between nations. See also fag, holiday, lift, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/78 "2010-07-06T21:16:32Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > Nope, it’s hardly the only case in which there’s a disparity of English terms between nations. See also fag, holiday, lift, etc. Did I say in the OP, or anywhere else in this thread, that you should be “suspect” of the name because of the disparity in terms with other countries? No, I just thought one might be curious about the name just because it doesn’t (on the surface) seem to jive with what is actually going on during the game. Even if no other country in the world existed, the name should have made some people question it (as, apparently, it did, as seen in some of the replies in this thread) ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/79 "2010-07-06T21:29:00Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football#Etymology) > > > [@](#): > > > > While it is widely assumed that the word “football” (or “foot ball”) references the action of the foot kicking a ball, there is a historical explanation, which is that football originally referred to a variety of games in medieval Europe, which were played on foot.[2] These games were usually played by peasants, as opposed to the horse-riding sports (such as polo) often played by aristocrats. There is no conclusive evidence for either explanation, and the word football has always implied a variety of games played on foot, not just those that involved kicking a ball. In some cases, the word football has even been applied to games which have specifically outlawed kicking the ball. That smells like urban legend to me. The references in the Wikipedia article all go back to one person, a Bill Murray (not \*the \*Bill Murray). The idea that there was this class of sports that “aristocrats” enjoyed, all of which apparently required them to be on horseback… I am sceptical. Surely most games are played on foot, even those enjoyed by posh people who can afford horses? Why didn’t they call croquet “football”, for example? ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635/80 "2010-07-06T21:32:50Z")
Because the length of a football is about a foot, and the diameter of a soccer ball isn’t? That’s always been my response to this ridiculous notion. Soccer should really be called kickball, but that’s already taken.😃 > **[Kickball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickball)** > > Kickball (also known as soccer baseball in most of Canada and football rounders in the United Kingdom) is a team sport and league game, similar to baseball. Like baseball, it is a safe haven game in which one team tries to score by having its players return a ball from home base to the field and then circle the bases. Meanwhile, the other team tries to stop them by tagging them "out" with the ball before they can return to the home base. However, instead of hitting a small, hard ball with a bat... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-raised-in-the-us-did-you-ever-ponder-why-football-is-called-that/545635.md?page=5)