this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2026
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Casual UK

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[–] fartsparkles@lemmy.world 120 points 3 weeks ago (19 children)

Soccer is a British word though, but predominantly southerner / Oxfordian.

Association Football used to get contracted to Assoc or Soc to differentiate it from Rugby Football.

And in Oxford, they historically liked to add -er to the end of things; still in parlance today is calling Rugby “rugger”, £5 note “fiver”, the Bodleian Library “Bodder”.

Assoc became “soccer”.

It’s not an American thing. It’s a posh southern England thing that got exported to the states by American students at Oxford returning stateside and bringing the game back with them.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 6 points 3 weeks ago

It's not just to distinguish it from rugby football. There are dozens of different types of games of football. Association football is just the one that got particularly popular across the world.

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[–] Azrael@reddthat.com 42 points 3 weeks ago (18 children)

Actually I believe it's called "Football" because most ball games were originally played on horseback.

Football (Soccer) was one of the first ball games to be played on foot, hence Foot-ball

That's why Rugby, Canadian Football, Australian Football, and American Football are also types of "Football".

Also, the name "Soccer" was literally invented in England. It's short for "Association Football" (Association - Assoc - Soccer) so shut the f*** up

[–] RamenJunkie@midwest.social 16 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Man, Baseball with horses would be wild.

[–] SirActionSack@aussie.zone 5 points 3 weeks ago

~~Baseball~~ footbat

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[–] halcyoncmdr@piefed.social 38 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Blame the British, Oxford specifically, and their penchant to name things ending in -er. They're the ones that named it, and they hide from that fact now as if they were never a part of it.

https://www.history.com/articles/why-do-some-people-call-it-soccer

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[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 28 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] ClathrateG@hexbear.net 6 points 3 weeks ago

I barely know 'er!

[–] inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 24 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

You want to blame someone, blame yourselves since you're the ones who created and colonized the word.

https://www.britannica.com/story/why-do-some-people-call-football-soccer

[–] Doomsider@lemmy.world 23 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

So dumb it hurts,

The term "soccer" was invented in England in the late 19th century by university students. It is widely attributed to Charles Wredford-Brown, an Oxford student.

[–] drolex@sopuli.xyz 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Charles Wredford-Brown

I think it would have been more believable if the guy had been called Sir Nigel Britishman-Worcestershiresauce

This is a joke name surely

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[–] JohnSmith@feddit.uk 22 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Both the American and rest of the world versions of their respective ball games are played on foot, as opposed to polo that is played riding a horse. The latter was originally invented by Ralph Lauren, as commemorated in ubiquitous t-shirts with a gentlemanly collar.

[–] Ioughttamow@fedia.io 12 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Why do people still wear Lacoste if no one plays gatorball anymore?

[–] NihilsineNefas@slrpnk.net 7 points 3 weeks ago

Speak for yourself, I've been handcrafting the only gatorballs strong enough to survive their bite strength for years!

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[–] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 21 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (5 children)

¿Por qué no los dos? Personally tired of these primarily online binary semantic arguments. Gif, jif, football, soccer, fútbol, pineapple, ananas, eggplant, aubergine. We contain multitudes, celebrate these absolutely arbitrary differences.

[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 15 points 3 weeks ago

No.

Them other folks need to learn themselves to talk proper.

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[–] Sharkticon@lemmy.zip 19 points 3 weeks ago

Now hold on a minute this was all your idea.

[–] resipsaloquitur@lemmy.cafe 16 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] Schal330@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)
[–] RamenJunkie@midwest.social 6 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)
[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 7 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah, that's a Handegg.

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[–] jambudz@lemmy.zip 15 points 3 weeks ago

Y’all are the ones who came up with the name soccer.

[–] Luminous5481@anarchist.nexus 15 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

if it's called football, then why did YOU name it soccer? seems kind of silly to blame other people for using the name you insisted everyone use.

but that's like imperial measurements, you insisted everyone use them and then changed your mind down the line and now make fun of us for using the Imperial system that Imperial Britian came up with. you have a nasty habit of blaming everyone else for the problems you create.

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 8 points 3 weeks ago

British imperial units and US customary units were actually both codified after American independence! Both British imperial and US customary units are derived from earlier English customary units. We made some agreements to harmonise our two systems over time so that we were at least using the same pound and yard, because we weren't before, but somehow volume units escaped this

Ironically we did sort of hamper your early efforts at metrication completely unintentionally; British pirates (privateers, more accurately) captured the French ship that happened to be carrying standards for the metric system across the Atlantic to you

Either way, Brits definitely shouldn't make fun of anyone for their system of measurement, because the only thing worse than a non-metric system is using some cursed half-and-half Frankenstein mashup of both metric and non-metric

[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 5 points 3 weeks ago

I'm relatively confident that Lady Butterfly was not involved in either of these things you're accusing her of.

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[–] Linktank@lemmy.today 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I wont hear from the UK about speaking English correctly. You are not serious people.

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[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

My brother in christ YOU CALLED IT SOCCER

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[–] Vreyan31@reddthat.com 10 points 3 weeks ago

But that ball is not shaped like a foot

[–] Ioughttamow@fedia.io 10 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

The arrow is pointing to his shin though?

[–] Zorque@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago

Good Ole shinball

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[–] zikzak025@lemmy.world 9 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Football just means a game played on foot, as opposed to on horse.

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[–] missphant@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 3 weeks ago

I barely know her

[–] lgmjon64@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

But you use both of your feet. Shouldn't it be called feetball then?

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[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

IDK why we changed it from Gridiron. That shit sounds way cooler.

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[–] ZWQbpkzl@hexbear.net 7 points 3 weeks ago

The full name is Association Football with Soccer being appropriate the Oxford vernacular abbreviation. nerd

[–] Johnny_Arson@hexbear.net 6 points 3 weeks ago

Hey don’t blame us, it was yall that came up with that name.

It's only soccer if they forget to wear their boots

[–] pigup@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] OhStopYellingAtMe@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

Both are called football because they’re played on foot, as opposed to on horseback. Both were called that because people who couldn’t afford horses were using polo fields to play Society football (soccer) or Rugby football (American football).

It has nothing to do with how the ball is handled/kicked.

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[–] megopie@beehaw.org 6 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

soccer is just a shortening of “association football”

“Foot ball” in American English referring to “gridiron football.”

Comepare that to “Gaelic football”, “Australian football” or “Rugby football”.

These are all just different rule sets that have evolved from a common ancestor, they’re all football.

[–] Jankatarch@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Woah woah woah. I thought we agreed getting Americans to use A4 paper instead of 8.5x11 first, calculate by the metric instead of the imperial system second, measure economy by HDI instead of GDP third, and call it football instead of soccer last.

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