- Tech
-
-
Tech
The gadgets, platforms, and software that make your digital life possible. If it bleeps, clicks or blinks, you’ll find it here.
-
Devices
-
Categories
-
-
- Internet Culture
-
-
Internet Culture
-
Categories
-
Featured
-
-
- Streaming
-
-
Streaming
-
Services
-
Featured
-
-
- IRL
-
-
IRL
-
Categories
-
Featured
-
-
- Social
-
-
Social
-
Categories
-
Featured
-
-
- Live TV
-
-
Live TV
-
Services
-
Guides
-
-
- More
- Search
See all Editor's Picks →
See all Popular →
Represented by Complex Media, Inc. for advertising sales.
Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Ethics
Latest
- Guy who runs Trump Organization Twitter account caught hyping up own tweet 5 Years Ago
- People found out how tall Olaf is–and now ‘Frozen’ is terrifying Today 3:41 PM
- Rapper Juice WRLD dead at 21 Today 3:02 PM
- Embody Andrew Yang, fight other presidential candidates in video game Today 2:33 PM
- Ariana Grande spoke with TikTok teen who looks exactly like her Today 1:00 PM
- Beyoncé accused of paying dancers ‘low rates’ Today 11:58 AM
- Timmy Thick blasted for saying the N-word in comeback video Today 9:11 AM
- Netflix’s ‘The Confession Killer’ is a devastating and well-built portrait of a con artist Today 8:00 AM
- Swipe This! I’m ashamed to tell anyone about my online shopping habit Today 6:00 AM
- UPS facing backlash for thanking police after employee killed in shootout Saturday 5:02 PM
- Sanders campaign fires staffer after anti-Semitic, homophobic tweets surface Saturday 3:13 PM
- Brother Nature was attacked, says everyone just watched with phones out Saturday 2:45 PM
- Ryan Reynolds’ gin company hires Peloton wife for ad Saturday 1:24 PM
- Ex-vegan YouTuber accused of fraud after following meat-only diet Saturday 1:11 PM
- The 15 best Disney+ hidden gems and deep cuts Saturday 12:23 PM
‘Soccer’ isn’t an American word
New research suggests the Brits actually invented the term they make fun of Americans for using.

Teams win and lose, but some things will never change: British people have always been critical of Americans for calling the game “soccer.” Or have they? New research suggests it was actually the Brits who invented the term.
In his research, Professor Stefan Szymanski of the University of Michigan analyzed thousands of copies of the London Times, New York Times, and popular magazines to gauge how often these terms were being used on either side of the Atlantic.
He found—far from what football/soccer fans might think—that it was only in the last 30 years that the term “soccer” fell out of fashion in the UK. For the previous 80 years, it’d been a casual word for football. In fact, between 1950 and 1980, the two words were almost interchangeable.
It’s believed the word “soccer” started being used in the late 19th century, in England, at elite universities like Oxford and Cambridge. A sports fan writing to the New York Times in 1905 writes, “As a matter of fact, it was a fad at Oxford and Cambridge to use ‘er’ at the end of many words, such as footer, sporter.” And so “soccer” was born, associated with the language of elite students.
For the next hundred years in Britain, it stayed in vogue—that is until the Americans began using it as their usual word for the same sport. Szymanski also notes that it’s possible that Americans are more embracing of informal ways of talking, and so were easier on the word than Brits.
The change came in 1980 with the rising popularity of the National American Soccer League, which seemed to make “soccer” a more official term for the sport in the States. In the UK, this made “football” the entrenched term for the game.
So why the hatred for Americans breaking away from the herd? Szymanski writes: “Many seek to associate American use of the word with alleged American imperialism and cultural hegemony”—an allegation many Americans would no doubt dispute. It’s probably more reasonable that in a game that pits two countries against each other, having different words only serves to deepen the rivalry.
All other English-speaking countries use the word “football,” and in most foreign languages, the roots of their word for football is pretty clear: In French it’s “le football,” Spanish, “fútbol.” In Chinese, “zuqiu” literally means “foot ball.”
Yet some countries have borrowed the “soccer” pronunciation: Japan uses “sakka,” and in Afrikaans, it’s “sokker.”
As nations face off in the 2014 World Cup, it can be surprising how little history we know about the game we’re watching and playing.
Photo via I_Believe_/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Jack Flanagan
Jack Flanagan is a reporter whose work focuses on science, technology, and business. His work has appeared in the Guardian, HuffPo, New Scientist, the Advocate, and the Next Web.