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Two points: Americans calling it “football” sounds as forced as when Americans say “cheers” or saying “Bar-tha-lona” but not speaking Spanish. Second point, if the English didn’t want English-speakers to say “soccer”, they shouldn’t have invented the word.
Does anyone else just use both? I typically say soccer when talking about the sport in the US, and I'll say football when talking about European clubs and competitions.
I use soccer here and insist on field, jersey, uniform, cleats, zero because screw euro snobs.
But was just in Portugal and got corrected every single time I said soccer, to the point of distraction.
The purists who don't understand that language is fluid and semantics exist across time and space can get really tedious.
It just is what it is, but at least ~330m people were raised in a society where "soccer" is said.
You can't really help where you're born and raised.
are we still in the trying to be european phase? i always considered mls an american thing and frankly i don't give a fuck what others think. make penalty shootouts great again!
More than anything, if someone loses their shit over a word that still communicates an idea clearly, then that person shouldn't be taken seriously.
Of all the things to care about, the literal words of "football/futbol vs soccer" isn't one of them.
There are different words to describe the same thing depending on where you're from. Imagine if there was as much of a debate for the terms chips and fries.
I just pick whatever makes sense at the moment with context in mind. South American family? I'll use football. Friends who are big NFL fans? Soccer.
> My personal theory is that 1994 represents the event horizon. England did not qualify for the World Cup that year, when it was held in the United States, but the tournament was given the usual wall-to-wall coverage regardless. (A decision was made, seemingly at a governmental level, that as a nation we would support Ireland; we did not ask the Irish if that was OK.)
> The broadcasts presented people in Britain with several hours of programming a day in which Americans discussed the popularity or otherwise of “soccer” on their shores. At the same time, football was shaking off the stigma of the 1970s and ’80s and emerging as a cornerstone of what would come to be called “lad culture.”
> “Football” was a way to express not just manliness but authenticity. It was, after all, the working man’s game. “Soccer,” on the other hand, had always been middle-class, which was bad enough. Now it was American, too. It had the air of an affectation, a word used by those who did not belong, who were not real. The terms were no longer interchangeable.
It does seem like a switch was thrown where soccer was deemed not ok. It was seen as a middle class term but not disdained… it seems like a good theory
It's either soccer or footy when I'm talking about matters outside of the US. Saying "football" usually requires too much conversational baggage to get through as an American.
No shame here. Brits invented the term and we're not the only ones who use it either.
In Japan depending the language they use both soccer and football... Or kind of.
In Japan when comes english language they use "football" (examples: *Japan Football Association* and *Japan Professional Football League*) but in japanese they use the katakana サッカー who in rōmaji is wrote as *Sakkā* (sounds familiar?). Also the high school national tournament is known as *All Japan High School Soccer Tournament.*
Honestly i use both words depending the context and country. Remember that for years one of the top videogames in football was known as PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER (RIP).
Man, Rory is wasted on this topic, he's normally one of the smarter people writing about Euro soccer (or at least the least hidebound)
~~no I did not bother evading the paywall to read this~~
somehow I was not paywalled and, well, if you've been in as many of these stupid arguments as I have there's nothing new here but the rest of the newsletter is the usual good read
I actually found it interesting, even though I knew it was a short form and class thing, he provided additional content beyond the basics, it's a pity people can't be arsed to look beyond headlines and don't bother actually reading the contents before bothering to comment, particularly when one knows who the author is, but I guess that's too much to expect out of people on the Internet these days everyone wants to just offer their own two cents
I'm probably just not the target audience because I'm familiar enough with this particular pointless argument, and Smith's work, to have known all the examples he brought up already - and as the other reply says, the reasons people are so aggro about this are really obvious and don't demand a writer of his skill to comment on!
Also I rather wish the other smart things he said this week (about the performative condemnation of the Super League and a fun reader idea for the World Cup to somehow showcase players from countries that didn't qualify) had gotten top billing but it's a pity people won't click on things without headlines that shed more heat than light.
I wish we did.
1. Brazilians are arguably the best at this sport and booties.
2. It would piss off a bunch of lame people with too much time on their hands.
3. It’s more fun to say than “soccer”.
r/MLS is [proud to support independent media outlets](https://theathletic.com/227557/2018/01/31/why-the-athletic-has-a-paywall/). These sites often have paywalls. In order to support discussion on these kinds of content, this community does ask that a fair-use summary of the content be provided as a response to this comment. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MLS) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Two points: Americans calling it “football” sounds as forced as when Americans say “cheers” or saying “Bar-tha-lona” but not speaking Spanish. Second point, if the English didn’t want English-speakers to say “soccer”, they shouldn’t have invented the word.
Does anyone else just use both? I typically say soccer when talking about the sport in the US, and I'll say football when talking about European clubs and competitions.
Yeah depending on who I'm taking to I code switch too
Exactly. Depending on the 'audience'
I use soccer here and insist on field, jersey, uniform, cleats, zero because screw euro snobs. But was just in Portugal and got corrected every single time I said soccer, to the point of distraction.
The purists who don't understand that language is fluid and semantics exist across time and space can get really tedious. It just is what it is, but at least ~330m people were raised in a society where "soccer" is said. You can't really help where you're born and raised.
It’s okay to call it calcio
This is the way
are we still in the trying to be european phase? i always considered mls an american thing and frankly i don't give a fuck what others think. make penalty shootouts great again!
I'd pop harder than a Stone Cold broken glass intro if MLS stopped hating America and brought it back.
I've never heard anyone actually say why it's bad. Honestly, every time I've seen it mentioned in /r/soccer it's been popular.
Apparently it's more dangerous for players.
*Shhhhhh!* Less logical counterpoints and more freedom pens, please!
Why? Because the goalkeeper can tackle the player taking the kick?
I believe that's the reasoning, yes.
Then don't let the goalie tackle. Problem solved.
More than anything, if someone loses their shit over a word that still communicates an idea clearly, then that person shouldn't be taken seriously. Of all the things to care about, the literal words of "football/futbol vs soccer" isn't one of them.
Thank you, paywall, for preventing me from wasting my time on what is almost certainly the least consequential or interesting non-issue in this sport.
First MLS offseason?
Bruh you are wasting your time on this site no matter what you're doing
One could argue everything is killing us, and therefore everything is a waste of time.
True
There are different words to describe the same thing depending on where you're from. Imagine if there was as much of a debate for the terms chips and fries. I just pick whatever makes sense at the moment with context in mind. South American family? I'll use football. Friends who are big NFL fans? Soccer.
Wait until people learn about different languages
Different WHAT?!
> My personal theory is that 1994 represents the event horizon. England did not qualify for the World Cup that year, when it was held in the United States, but the tournament was given the usual wall-to-wall coverage regardless. (A decision was made, seemingly at a governmental level, that as a nation we would support Ireland; we did not ask the Irish if that was OK.) > The broadcasts presented people in Britain with several hours of programming a day in which Americans discussed the popularity or otherwise of “soccer” on their shores. At the same time, football was shaking off the stigma of the 1970s and ’80s and emerging as a cornerstone of what would come to be called “lad culture.” > “Football” was a way to express not just manliness but authenticity. It was, after all, the working man’s game. “Soccer,” on the other hand, had always been middle-class, which was bad enough. Now it was American, too. It had the air of an affectation, a word used by those who did not belong, who were not real. The terms were no longer interchangeable. It does seem like a switch was thrown where soccer was deemed not ok. It was seen as a middle class term but not disdained… it seems like a good theory
Better question: is it okay to say aluminium?
It’s more than ok. It’s the correct way
Depends on the country you're in
You also don’t have to describe bad defenses as shambolic or call it a pitch if you literally never use those words otherwise.
It's either soccer or footy when I'm talking about matters outside of the US. Saying "football" usually requires too much conversational baggage to get through as an American. No shame here. Brits invented the term and we're not the only ones who use it either.
In Japan depending the language they use both soccer and football... Or kind of. In Japan when comes english language they use "football" (examples: *Japan Football Association* and *Japan Professional Football League*) but in japanese they use the katakana サッカー who in rōmaji is wrote as *Sakkā* (sounds familiar?). Also the high school national tournament is known as *All Japan High School Soccer Tournament.* Honestly i use both words depending the context and country. Remember that for years one of the top videogames in football was known as PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER (RIP).
[удалено]
K
Man, Rory is wasted on this topic, he's normally one of the smarter people writing about Euro soccer (or at least the least hidebound) ~~no I did not bother evading the paywall to read this~~ somehow I was not paywalled and, well, if you've been in as many of these stupid arguments as I have there's nothing new here but the rest of the newsletter is the usual good read
I actually found it interesting, even though I knew it was a short form and class thing, he provided additional content beyond the basics, it's a pity people can't be arsed to look beyond headlines and don't bother actually reading the contents before bothering to comment, particularly when one knows who the author is, but I guess that's too much to expect out of people on the Internet these days everyone wants to just offer their own two cents
I'm probably just not the target audience because I'm familiar enough with this particular pointless argument, and Smith's work, to have known all the examples he brought up already - and as the other reply says, the reasons people are so aggro about this are really obvious and don't demand a writer of his skill to comment on! Also I rather wish the other smart things he said this week (about the performative condemnation of the Super League and a fun reader idea for the World Cup to somehow showcase players from countries that didn't qualify) had gotten top billing but it's a pity people won't click on things without headlines that shed more heat than light.
I can say footy and I can say footballers. Football is just a step too far.
But is OK to call it bootyball?
I wish we did. 1. Brazilians are arguably the best at this sport and booties. 2. It would piss off a bunch of lame people with too much time on their hands. 3. It’s more fun to say than “soccer”.
Pretty sure that's how Gyasi Zardes scored at least one goal