If I’m talking to an English speaker from outside of the US, is there any confusion if I say “soccer”?
For example, when I was in college a friend asked for a “torch”. I was confused for quite some time, because I didn’t know it was another word for “flashlight”. Does the same thing happen with the word “soccer”? Should I clarify by saying, “…or football”?
Thank you!
No, we understand. In fact, if anything it’s easier if you say soccer! If someone with an American accent says ‘football’ I normally assume they mean gridiron, so sayings soccer is actually a little clearer.
Of course, in different parts of the world, ‘football’ might mean rugby (either union or league), Gaelic football or Aussie rules football. So, the potential for confusion is pretty wide!
This. ‘Soccer’ is well understood and unambiguous, though it might prompt certain assumptions depending on your audience. There are times and places you might prefer to say ‘football’ to mean ‘Association football,’ but if you just need to communicate simple factual information in two syllables, it’s probably the best word for that.
There are times and places you might prefer to say ‘football’
Even countries or continents.
It’s ok, we know you guys are weird.
The word Soccer is actually British - it’s short for Association as in Association Football, although it’s sland from Oxford University of all places, and is late Victorian.
Irony is a surprising number of “Americanisms” turn out to be old British terms that died out in Britain but reached and continued in the US.
While it will absolutely out you as a US American, we will understand - same as when you say “Candy” and similar common Americanisms
… wtf else do you call candy?
Wee Confectionary Yum Yums
As others have said, sweets
Wait…I think you’re saying that Brits call candy sweets…maybe…
Definitely Brits, but not just Brits - Sweets is the preferred term in much of the English speaking world, with Candy being very distinctly associated with the US.
Interesting. I’ve used candy to refer to non-chocolate sweets. Sweets refers to sweet candy, and chocolate.
On that note, for a long time, I’d thought “candy bar” was called as such because they tend to not contain any actual chocolate.
How people refer between different types of sweets varies even within Britain, nevermind other countries… but at least in my experience chocolate sweets get referred to as chocolates, and non-chocolate sweets as just sweets (though I have heard the terms sugar sweets and confectioneries thrown about for those too)
Chocolate isn’t sweets.
It sure as heck ain’t sour
Sweets?
I’ve actually heard people call candy “sweets” here in the midwestern US quite a lot
We use both
Ah yes no worries, we even heard about them Soccer moms here in Europe.
Everyone understands, most gringe.
It’s soccer here in Australia as, like the US, we have our own local football code too.
It’s only Americans that have this problem. Our TV and movies have been exported all over the world for decades.
I found Monty Python early in my life and it touched off a life long love of British TV and learned the lingo. ☺
There’s more problems that occur when you talk about American Football as just football solely because people will attempt to follow along before getting blindsided by something that doesn’t make sense. At least when Americans talk about Soccer, everyone knows what’s going on. Seems like there’s often miscommunication that people are getting annoyed Americans refer to Football as soccer and not that your refer to American Football as football. Makes sense when you talk to people in your own country.
This isn’t American Centric. Whenever I’ve talked to people about Gaelic Football, it’s discussed as Gaelic football, not football.
I’ve heard gridiron. Just not “gridiron football” together.
Not a native English speaker, but my hunch is, soccer will almost certainly be understood. Also it will identify you as American.
But if an American says football, that can create a bit of confusion.
