# What does "football" or "football shaped" mean outside North America? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2017, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379 "2017-01-28T06:51:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/1 "2017-01-28T06:51:45Z")
(When referring to things that aren’t footballs, I mean.) Every so often in British writing I come across the word football used to describe the shape of something, or to say that a thing resembles a football. So for example in a _Fawlty Towers_ episode a guest wants “little cheese footballs” for her dog. And in _The Time Machine_, when the time traveler takes his machine all the way to the very end of the Earth, he sees a “football-shaped” creature flopping around in the dim reddish light of a dying Sun. But when by far the most popular variant of football is the one played with an ordinarily round ball, why do the writers specify ‘football’ shaped? Is the reader or listener meant to imagine something shaped like an American or Rugby football? When used as a noun outside of its usual context, does the word ‘football’ mean that kind of football, and not a round soccer ball? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/2 "2017-01-28T08:28:56Z")
No, in the UK it would mean a spheroid - if a rugby ball were intended as the analogy, we would say so. As to why we say “football-shaped” rather than “ball-shaped”, I don’t know. Maybe it just sounds more impressive. In some contexts, it may be important to signify that it can bounce, in others that it’s not as hard as a cricket ball, or as small as a golf or tennis ball, and anyway not to risk evoking mental images of testicles. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/3 "2017-01-28T09:03:18Z")
In Australia there are four national football codes, only one of which has the round ball. In terms of participation it [Soccer] roughly equals the other three [[Guardian - 2014 figures](https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2014/apr/15/australia-football-interactive-statistics)], but has much less penetration for live spectator and TV coverage. Even so, I think most people in Australia would think that a ‘football shape’ was elongated [note - there are diffs between the balls used for rugby, Aussie rules and American football]. Additionally, the question ‘What shape is Stewie Griffin’s head’ would almost certainly be answered with ‘a football’, and ‘What shape is Eric Cartman’s head’ would not. Having sat through some gridiron matches, why do they even call it football? I believe they have to import players from other countries who know how to kick without falling over. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/4 "2017-01-28T09:22:20Z")
Writers should be discouraged from using such an ambiguous descriptor. I would assume that “football shaped” was round, unless I was reading or watching something by an American author; in which case I would assume “rugby ball” shaped. There is such a lot of American programming on our TVs that most people here are bi-lingual and have no trouble with the fairly small number of differences. When an American “pops the hood” on his car, or puts her luggage in the trunk, we do not need a translator to know that they mean the “bonnet” and “boot” respectively. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/5 "2017-01-28T09:46:12Z")
“Football” typically doesn’t mean association football, aka soccer, in USA, Canada, good parts of Australia (where AFL seems to be the biggest associated term) and NZ, Ireland, (I think) South Africa, and other non-English countries like Italy and Japan. “If we don’t get blown off,or drowned,or struck by lightning,we shall be picked up by some giant and kicked sky-high for a football.” -Thorin Oakenshield, not sure what he means, but it isn’t NFL. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/6 "2017-01-28T10:06:49Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > “Football” typically doesn’t mean association football, aka soccer, in USA, Canada, good parts of Australia (where AFL seems to be the biggest associated term) and NZ, Ireland, (I think) South Africa, and other non-English countries like Italy and Japan. > > “If we don’t get blown off,or drowned,or struck by lightning,we shall be picked up by some giant and kicked sky-high for a football.” > -Thorin Oakenshield, not sure what he means, but it isn’t NFL. I get your other countries but Italy? Why wouldn’t football mean soccer there? Is there some other sport more popular which arrogates the name? ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/7 "2017-01-28T10:08:26Z")
One of my uni lecturers told an anecdote about the discovery of carbon 60. The Americans who discovered it couldn’t work out the structure of a molecule made up of 60 atoms. They asked an english colleague who instantly told them it was football shaped. A standard UK football is made up of 5 sided panels which gives 60 indices. The americans went away and tried to build a model based on their footbal shape and it still didn’t work. I doubt this is true, but my lecturer really didn’t like americans! ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/8 "2017-01-28T10:09:53Z")
In the vast majority of the world, “football” would mean round. Certain niche areas may consider it more relevant to American/Rugby/Aussie rules-type footballs but they’ll be the minority. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/9 "2017-01-28T10:11:22Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I get your other countries but Italy? Why wouldn’t football mean soccer there? Is there some other sport more popular which arrogates the name? Italy, Japan and France all love their rugby. However I’d still imagine “round” is still the standard image for “football” ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/10 "2017-01-28T10:27:38Z")
Seeing as how, in France “foot”, in Spanish-speaking countries “futbol”, and in Portuguese-speaking countries “futebol”, all mean soccer but rugby is “rugby”, I don’t think there’s much room there for ambiguity in understanding the English “football”. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/11 "2017-01-28T10:46:59Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > “Football” typically doesn’t mean association football, aka soccer, in USA, Canada, good parts of Australia (where AFL seems to be the biggest associated term) and NZ, Ireland, (I think) South Africa, and other non-English countries like Italy and Japan. The bad parts of Australia play football of multiple too … 😛 IME the phrase is just as frequently, if not more so “football sized”, i.e. the _“lump the size of a football”_. As the phrase is usually hyperbolic the precise differences between the balls used in the various coders is immaterial. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/12 "2017-01-28T11:36:04Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > (So for example in a _Fawlty Towers_ episode a guest wants “little cheese footballs” for her dog. In that specific instance, [Cheese Footballs](http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10317--5504-Jacob's+cheese+footballs) are a snack product sold by that name. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/13 "2017-01-28T11:58:41Z")
In UK football-shaped would usually mean spherical or a [truncated icosahedron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truncated_icosahedron), which has the same pattern of pentagons and hexagons on its surface as a traditional football (soccer ball). ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/14 "2017-01-28T12:07:40Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > One of my uni lecturers told an anecdote about the discovery of carbon 60. The Americans who discovered it couldn’t work out the structure of a molecule made up of 60 atoms. Harry Kroto, who discovered C60, was English. Prof. Sir Martyn Poliakov discusses the discovery of C60 [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljF5QhD5hnI). The story according to him is that Kroto, et. al. asked some mathematicians what the shape was called, and they said, “duh, a soccer ball.” Sir Martyn also posted a really lovely [tribute video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0ADOfaxWYc) to Kroto after the latter’s death. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/15 "2017-01-28T13:09:09Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > In that specific instance, [Cheese Footballs](http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10317--5504-Jacob's+cheese+footballs) are a snack product sold by that name. I don’t think so, I think the guest was referring to real small balls of cheese. The crispy snack just used the same concept for it’s name. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/16 "2017-01-28T13:15:27Z")
**its** goddammit _hangs head in shame_ ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/17 "2017-01-28T14:42:35Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > I don’t think so, I think the guest was referring to real small balls of cheese. The crispy snack just used the same concept for it’s name. I disagree. Cheese Footballs were a well-established snack of the period and the reference in Fawlty Towers would have been well understood at that time. There was, however, a reluctance at that time to refer to branded products explicitly name, particularly on the BBC, hence they thinly disguised the reference as a description rather than a name. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/18 "2017-01-28T15:07:56Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I get your other countries but Italy? Why wouldn’t football mean soccer there? Is there some other sport more popular which arrogates the name? \*\*thelurkinghorror \*\*was probably referencing the Italian name for the sport of association football, _calcio_. Whereas other Western European Romance languages use terms deriving from English “football”. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/19 "2017-01-28T15:09:08Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Harry Kroto, who discovered C60, was English. > > Prof. Sir Martyn Poliakov discusses the discovery of C60 [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljF5QhD5hnI). The story according to him is that Kroto, et. al. asked some mathematicians what the shape was called, and they said, “duh, a soccer ball.” > > Sir Martyn also posted a really lovely [tribute video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0ADOfaxWYc) to Kroto after the latter’s death. Sir Martyn has excellent Professor Hair, and that’s a really fascinating collection of videos on his channel. Thanks friedo. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/20 "2017-01-28T15:48:16Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Harry Kroto, who discovered C60, was English. > > Prof. Sir Martyn Poliakov discusses the discovery of C60 [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljF5QhD5hnI). The story according to him is that Kroto, et. al. asked some mathematicians what the shape was called, and they said, “duh, a soccer ball.” > > Sir Martyn also posted a really lovely [tribute video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0ADOfaxWYc) to Kroto after the latter’s death. Thanks, I always doubted it was true, but never bothered to research it in detail. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379.md?page=2)