Why is football better known as soccer in US?

1. 59

   Naxousposted 14 years ago

   Why is football better known as soccer in US?
   
   Whenever we talk about football an American inadvertantly thinks of American football,it's only when we specify that it is soccer he seems to understand.

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2. 60

   The Best Manposted 14 years ago

   I guess it is to avoid confusion with NFL Football, though given that soccer is a sport where the ball is being kicken 99.9% of the game, you can understand why it is known as football in every other corner of the globe bar the USA.

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3. 74

   stricktlydatingposted 14 years ago

   It's also known as Soccer here in Australia.
   Referring to Football (or Footy as we usually call it) is referring to our game of Rugby League, at least it is here in NSW.

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4. 60

   lamalipmimposted 14 years ago

   it's because...
   for the americans, a football game is played by a team of men running around carrying the ball, in their HANDS.

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5. 44

   suman680posted 14 years ago

   American football(NFL) is one of the most popular game in US.
   So, they call the football as soccer to differ it from American football.

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6. 72

   SidKempposted 12 years ago

   Okay, it's a weird bit of etymology. Soccer was given the official name "Association Football" in England, to distinguish it from rugby and other football games. "Soc" is short for "association." In 1875, Oxford folks added "-er" to everything: a footballer played foodball, etc. So, someone who played "association football" was a "soccer." The name stuck.
   
   Americans use the term "soccer" because "football" refers to American Football (as in NFL). In England, where rugby is also played, the terms football and soccer are both used for soccer. In most of the rest of the world, where there is just one game, it is called football, because there is no confusion. Australia, Canada, and New Zealand also call soccer football, at least some of the time. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_for_ … _football.

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