The unexpectedly wild history of the word "soccer" has Americans feeling justified and a bit peeved
“So once again, it’s the English’s fault.”
Unexpected history of the word soccer has people giggling
America and England have a long history, something about kings, tea and taxes kicked the whole thing off. Since the establishment of the United States there has been this sibling like rivalry between the two countries. People in England make fun of Americans' accents and Americans tease the British about their food. It's generally playful and everyone has a chuckle.
One of the main points of good natured ribbing is the different words used by the two groups of people for common items. In Britain women's underwear are knickers, potato chips are crisps, French fries are chips, and biscuits are cookies. These things can get a bit confusing if you're unaware of the different names of things, but one of the most diabolically accidental jokes is the word soccer.
Americans know that soccer is a game that involves a black and white round ball being kicked down the field. In England this sport is known as football, which is obviously not the same as American football but the reason "soccer" is used in the U.S. instead of football has people feeling gaslit by an entire country.
Americans didn't invent the term soccer. Nope. Not even a little bit. On "Red Handed the Podcast," the two co-hosts discuss the origins of the word soccer leaving one of them shocked after she declared that the proper term was football.
"Did you know soccer was coined by none other than the English," one of the women asks before getting into the etymology of the word. "So, let me take you back to the 1800s. Association Football, as it was called, was shortened to just ASSOC."
She goes on to explain that in the late 1800s there was a brief fad of adding "er" to the end of some words, basically causing a shortened word to be lengthened. The whole explanation is quite fascinating but people are a little annoyed but also satisfied given that the British often poke fun at Americans calling the sport soccer. Turns out they were the culprits all along like some sort of multigenerational practical joke that's just been discovered.
"Everyone also hates America for the Imperial system, but England invented that too," one person declares.
"Is there no end to the villainy of the Brits," someone laughs while questioning the entirety of Britain.
"You come over here and made us use imperial units then bailed. Now you did soccer," another commenter exclaims their feigned frustration.
Things take a bit of a sassy turn as the realization hits others. One person scolds, "gaslighting a whole country is such a British thing to do." While another one teases changing the name of soccer in America, "I just think we (we being Americans) should stop calling it soccer and call it Metric Football instead."
In the end someone called it out for what it seems to be, "it’s giving older sibling vibes lol."
Now that this information has been shared in short form on the internet, Americans are likely not going to let this one go but it's all in good fun.