Soccer: World's most offensive noun?

[Solomon Kane]

Has anyone told the FAI how they feel about this?

[GalwayBayBoy]

P.S. It almost amuses me when people make statements like: "... other countries such as the USA or Australia". How many more can they name?

Does it actually matter?

In those countries and here football generally means something other than soccer although plenty of people use the words football/soccer here interchangeably. Soccer is just used to avoid confusion with gaelic football.

P.P.S. Following the recent revamp of the game in Australia, including the new A-League, plus their success in the World Cup, the Governing Body has renamed itself "Football Federation Australia", mildly discourages the term "soccer", and has at last recognised what the rest of the world (bar the USA and parts of Ireland etc) has long known: the game is"football" - see www.footballaustralia.com.au.
So that's one less on the list of "soccer-speakers"!

I think if you were to walk the streets of Sydney or Melbourne and approached the average person and ask to be taken to a football game you'd probably be taken to a rugby league game in Sydney and an AFL game in Melbourne.

Not sure why soccer fans (and I'm one myself) get so precious about the word football. There are variations of football all over the world. Live and let live I say. Football to one person can be something different than it is to someone else.

[stiffler]

There are many diifferent forms of football, one of them is soccer. Because this is the most popular form of football, alot of people refer to soccer simply as football, however in areas where it is not the most popular form of football it is referred to as soccer.

[Onlooker]

Whatever about parts of the North of England, where Rugby League is the number one sport, I am sure that in South Wales and the Scottish Borders where Rugby Union is the top sport, the term soccer would be widely used.

[Gabriel_Hurl]

in italy soccer is called "kick-ball"

[GalwayBayBoy]

I am sure that in South Wales and the Scottish Borders where Rugby Union is the top sport, the term soccer would be widely used.

In fairness unlike Australia I don't think they refer to rugby as "football" in either Wales or Scotland but you will hear the odd person who would call it "rugby football"

[SammyG]

Whatever about parts of the North of England, where Rugby League is the number one sport, I am sure that in South Wales and the Scottish Borders where Rugby Union is the top sport, the term soccer would be widely used.

Been working in South Wales for the last year and have never once heard anybody call football 'soccer' and rugby is called rugby.

[his holiness nb]

Indeed it is especially amusing when these are cited by GAA fans; after all, its not as if the Yanks or Aussies say "soccer" in order to distinguish it from Gaelic Football...

No, they call it soccer to distinguish it from their native football. Who here said they say soccer to distinguish it from Gaelic football in USA or Australia 

Bizarre comment

[MW]

in italy soccer is called "kick-ball"

Don't think 'calcio' translates as 'kick-ball', does it?