• AnyOldName3@lemmy.world
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    19 days ago

    The meme doesn’t really work. The working-class people who played football the most always called it football. Upper-class people at public schools (don’t confuse this with state schools - in the UK, public schools are even posher and more expensive than private schools, and the name comes from letting anyone who could afford the fees in, not from any intention to educate the general public) needed to distinguish it from Rugby Football so they could make a rule against playing it, and invented the name Association Football. There’s a tradition at public schools to shorten names in a particular way (Rugby football to rugger, buggery to bugger etc.) and when applying that to association football, it becomes soccer. Soccer has always been a term used to mock poor people who play football instead of rugby, so of course it’s badly-received when people say it.

    • Lemminary@lemmy.world
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      19 days ago

      TIL

      the name comes from letting anyone who could afford the fees in

      Thank you for including that, too

    • seejur@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      Reason why, most clubs founded in the 19th century onward, used football club in their names. Including Italian Spanish etc clubs founded by British immigrant

    • JeremyHuntQW12@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      Soccer is short for “Association Football” so either term is valid.

      The Public Schools in the west of Britain were Army schools, they played Rugby, and used western prouniciation ie “castle = carsell” and “lieutenant=leftenant”

      The Public Schools in the east of Britain were Navy schools, they played Association Football" and used eastern pronunciation “castle=kassel”, and “lieutenant=lootenant”.

      Lieutenant is still pronounced differently in the Royal navy and army.