# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/21 "2017-01-28T15:58:50Z")
A spheroid, obviously. “And all the world is football-shaped It’s just for me to kick in space And I can see, hear, smell, touch, taste And I’ve got one, two, three, four, five” “Senses Working Overtime” XTC. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/22 "2017-01-28T16:01:29Z")
… ellipsoid … ---
**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, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/23 "2017-01-28T18:49:19Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > \*\*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”. Yeah, sorry guess that’s not really relevant though as Italy and Japan don’t have another football code that’s more popular. Japan is literally “sakkaa.” and now that I look, I guess it’s “sokker” in Afrikaans? Interesting. > [@penultima\_thule](#): > > The bad parts of Australia play football of multiple too … 😛 You must admit, “football” rolls off the tongue more than “Oh my God! Run from the spiders! ball.” ---
**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 29, 2017, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/24 "2017-01-29T07:36:36Z")
In America the remorseless and unending battle versus nature is called “Survivor”. In Australia it’s called camping. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/25 "2017-01-29T08:56:51Z")
> [@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. 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. Not quite, a football (and a buckyball) have a combination of 5 and 6 sided panels. See [here](http://tinyurl.com/zbjcocn), black panels have 5 sides, white panels have 6 sides. ---
**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 29, 2017, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/26 "2017-01-29T08:57:05Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > “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. Very interesting responses here. I’m curious as to how many panels an Association football has–but don’t tell me! I want to see if I can remember how to figure it out by induction from a tetrahedron. I’d forgotten all about the football reference in _The Hobbit_. We can but speculate about the details of dwarven football, and what the premier rivalries might have been. Lonely Mount FC and Khazad-Dûm United, maybe? ---
**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 29, 2017, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/27 "2017-01-29T09:07:30Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > 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. We don’t get nearly as much TV or other materials from the UK but I think most people here are reasonably familiar that there are two sets of terms for cars and a variety of other mechanical contrivances which were invented after our common language divided us. “Bonnet” actually is a very apt term for what we call the hood, and for much the same reason. You have to imagine a very old, vintage car like this [1940 Plymouth sedan](http://www.autogallery.org.ru/k/p/40plyRoadkingSedan_HW1.jpg). When the hood is open and seen from the front, it actually looks like a bonnet (or hood). ---
**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 29, 2017, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/28 "2017-01-29T11:20:28Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > now that I look, I guess it’s “sokker” in Afrikaans? Interesting. Well, South Africa is probably the only country (apart from Wales) where rugby is the dominant code (at least among white South Africans and particularly Afrikaners). ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/29 "2017-01-29T12:06:42Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Well, South Africa is probably the only country (apart from Wales) where rugby is the dominant code (at least among white South Africans and particularly Afrikaners). Oh, god, now you’ve done it! Here come the Kiwis! 5, 4, 3… ---
**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 29, 2017, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/30 "2017-01-29T12:14:06Z")
Easily overlooked… NB: Fainites, I’ve got my specs on! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/31 "2017-01-29T22:01:41Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > 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. American football is called that due to tradition. Originally it was just a modification of rugby. As for the kickers falling, surely you’ve heard of a [dive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_(association_football))? Same thing. OK, not always. Sometimes it’s just that they’re trying to get as much altitude to the ball as they can, which kickers in other sports don’t try to do. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/32 "2017-01-30T03:27:31Z")
Last I heard, the bucky-ball football has been replaced with a football sewn something like a baseball. The problem, of course, is to get something roughly spheroid (one of the differences on which “rugby” and “the football association” split), and the association rules have a definition of how spheroid it has to be. Back when Buckminster Fuller was getting all the publicity for the geodesic dome, the sports company which had paid for the right to supply footballs for the FIFA World Cup decided to make a new “modern” football using a “new modern” sewing pattern. Now that geodesic domes aren’t new and modern any more, they’ve decided to go on to another sewing pattern. (In fashion, change is good.). To me (vic.aus), “football shaped” is ovoid unless I’m watching the BBC or the ABC. The Australian Broadcast Commission has the rights to Association Football here, and apparently (??) ( I’ve heard that) as part of the contract, they are required to use the unqualified term “football” only and always for Association Football. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/33 "2017-01-30T04:27:00Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > 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”. Yes, but _futbol_, _futebol_, etc, all refer to the game, not to the thing that gets kicked. So those languages would have no concept of _futbol_-shaped, etc. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/34 "2017-01-30T06:28:04Z")
It means\* truncated icosahedron\* in South Africa. American “football-shaped” would be “rugby-ball shaped” here. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/35 "2017-01-30T06:34:44Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > now that I look, I guess it’s “sokker” in Afrikaans? IME, it’s as likely to be ‘_voetbal_’ as ‘_sokker_’ to _die man op die straat_. But it’s definitely “soccer” to South African Bantu-speaking Blacks ---
**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 30, 2017, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/36 "2017-01-30T07:00:42Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > American football is called that due to tradition. Originally it was just a modification of rugby. > > As for the kickers falling, surely you’ve heard of a [dive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_(association_football))? Same thing. OK, not always. Sometimes it’s just that they’re trying to get as much altitude to the ball as they can, which kickers in other sports don’t try to do. Fair enough. I was more struck with the [number of specialist kickers recruited from other football codes internationally](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placekicker). I stand by my comment that Stewie Griffin’s head will be identified as football shaped while Eric Cartman’s will not. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/37 "2017-01-30T07:03:43Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > American football is called that due to tradition. Originally it was just a modification of rugby. This might be a bit of an oversimplification. Rugby football and Association football both evolved out of attempts to codify, for the purpose of university games, compromise rules that reflected the footballing traditions that prevailed in different English schools. The idea was that when men moved from school to university, they needed to establish common rules for playing football. One influential early attempt was the Cambridge rules, which allowed handling of the ball if a player caught it from a kick by the opposing side (“marking”) A player who marked a ball could either kick it from where he stood, or run with it and pass it by hand. These eventually evolved into the rules of Association football, and marking/running was dropped, but that didn’t happen until American football had also evolved out of the same original rules. Strictly speaking, American football started from the (then) rules of Association football, which permitted ball-handling in certain circumstances, but its subsequent evolution was influenced by Rugby football, while Association football evolved in the opposite direction, eventually banning all forms of ball-handling, except by the goalkeeper. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/38 "2017-01-30T07:05:15Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Well, South Africa is probably the only country (apart from Wales) where rugby is the dominant code (at least among white South Africans and particularly Afrikaners). New Zealand, Oceania and, if you combine League and Union, rugby even edges Aussie Rules in Oz. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/39 "2017-01-30T08:15:03Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > New Zealand, Oceania and, if you combine League and Union, rugby even edges Aussie Rules in Oz. [Wikipedia sez](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_in_Australia#Spectators) Aussie Rules = 7,150,586 spectators in 2016, vs. 4,361,310 for league+union. Of course you may be correct using a different metric for measuring dominance, such as $ earned. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379/40 "2017-01-30T08:28:15Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Yes, but _futbol_, _futebol_, etc, all refer to the game, not to the thing that gets kicked. So those languages would have no concept of _futbol_-shaped, etc. No, but we do have the notion that a _pelota_ or _balón_ is different if it’s used for _fútbol, balóncesto, balónmano, pelota mano_… they’ve got different sizes, panels, hardnesses and even colors. We just call them names which the literally minded would translate as “ball of [sport]”. And we can say “make a ball the size of a _pelota mano_ ball” or “the _balón_ was reglamentary size but not reglamentary otherwise”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-football-or-football-shaped-mean-outside-north-america/778379.md?page=3)