If Jetpunk calls the Beckham sport "football" then what should be the name for the Tom Brady sport? "American Football", coming from an American website?
There is more than one type of football. This quiz refers to Association football or, more commonly abbreviated, soccer to differentiate from all the other codes of football in the world.
I am also from the land of Lancashire, Malbaby, and in this day and age it is considered a sin to even murmur the word soccer in reference to the glorious game.
For God's sake! We British have called it soccer for decades. It's not as common these days but it used to be really common; for my dad's generation, who grew up in the 50s, it was the usual term for the sport. Look up old Pathe news clips online about the sport from the 40s, 50s, and 60s (for example) and they more often than not refer to the sport as soccer. And Ray Wilson, one of the 1966 England World Cup winning players, called his autobiography "My Life in Soccer" - if that's not an indication of the prevailing usage in England I don't know what is! In short, soccer is one name for the sport, it is not exclusively called football in England.
Agreed - 'soccer' is public school slang for association football - the equivalent of 'rugger' for rugby football. It's an old English term. Perfectly acceptable.
I grew up near Burnley Lancashire and played footy almost every day from ~1959 until 1980. I watched Burnley FC and latterly Man City avidlyduring that period. Not once in those 20-odd years was it ever referred to as "soccer" by anyone I knew. It may have been soccer in posh schools and towns but never in Accrington Grammar or at Turf Moor - where it was always football or footy. I know its supposed to be a corruption of "Associated Football" - but why use soccer - Football says it all - it is after all the ball game that is most associated (sic) with feet - all others should find their own name !
BTW - we didn't play footy either - we "laked". As in " Are you laking" or "do you want to lake". :-)
Both football and soccer are barely ok for me as long as you just don't call football that weird North-American sport that you play with hands and without ball.
BTW - we didn't play footy either - we "laked". As in " Are you laking" or "do you want to lake". :-)