The origins of the term "Soccer" explained

The origin of the term “soccer” has been a big topic of debate

Although the United States national team performed very well at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, one question fans of the beautiful game still ask is ‘Why do Americans call it soccer and not football?’ The ‘football’ v/s ‘soccer’ debate is now pretty old – the prevalent thought fans so far was that the term “soccer” was given by the Americans but researchers have found out otherwise.

Professor Stefan Szymanski of the Michigan University recently revealed why the Americans call it soccer and put the blame partly on the British.

The word ‘soccer’ is believed to have originated in Britain in the 18th century, some 200 years ago. It came from the official name of the game “association football.” As other versions of the game evolved, like Rugby football, the British adopted colloquialisms to distinguish each game.

Thus Rugby football became “rugger”, a term still used in the 21st century and “association football” became “soccer”. The use of ‘er’ at the end of words was a trend back then.

The word ‘soccer’ slowly gained popularity among the American masses as it helped them differentiate it from American football. By the 1980s the British gradually began to stop using the word ‘soccer’ as they felt it had become ‘too American’.

Professor Szymanski explained the Americanisation of the word ‘soccer’ and its effect it had on the British and the rest of the world.

"In the U.S. it seems to have had a more democratic flavor – everyone used it – and more easily shifted from a colloquialism to a proper name because of the utility of distinguishing it from the other 'football'."

"Since 1980 the usage of the word 'soccer' has declined in British publications, and where it is used, it usually refers to an American context. This decline seems to be a reaction against the increased usage in the US which seems to be associated with the highpoint of the [North American Soccer League] around 1980."

The use of the term ‘soccer’ by the Americans incites great frustration from the people who are loyal to the original name. One of the frustrated rants was by Beat Zimmermann, the founder of the Air Navigation Institute, Professor Szymanski referred to in his research paper.

“Dear Americans, Here is an important lesson for you to learn: There is no sport called 'Soccer.' The sport that was invented between the years 220 and 680 (yes, years with 3 digits do exist) is called Football. Nobody knows why you guys call a sport that was invented somewhat later (1869) and is played by motorbikers (that's why they wear helmets, not so?) football. It's neither played with the feet nor with a ball. If you called it American Rugby I am sure nobody would argue.”

Well whatever you call it, the game remains beautiful as ever.