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Comment by Nux | Hacker News Reader

It's incredibly annoying to keep hearing this word, "soccer" is an insult, the game/sport is called "football".

The word "soccer" started in England as a slang of "association," which became "assocc" and then "soccer." Americans learned the word from the English.

It may also surprise you to learn that water closets are called restrooms in other countries that speak English.

This is similar to getting upset that in various countries an apple is called “pomme”, “manzana”, “apple”, etc. Shouldn’t we call it by the name it’s called in whichever country it was first cultivated?

In fact no, we shouldn’t, because different languages and dialects have different words for things, and that’s just a fact of life.

If you're speaking a different language, using a different word is fine. But if you presume to claim to be speaking "English", then you should use the word they use in England.

I claim to speak American English. I don’t recognize any dialect of English, including my own, as the primary one that all others have to follow, because English is a pluricentric language. I’ll never tell someone from England, Ireland, Australia, India, Zimbabwe etc. that their version of English is wrong, and they shouldn’t tell me that mine is either.

This phenomenon isn’t unique to English, by the way. Every language spoken in more than one country (AFAIK) has some words that vary between countries.

Your argument is a bit ridiculous IMO, it’s like saying neovim should merge every patch that gets merged to vim.

And yet you don't know that the term soccer comes from association football and was coined by the English

I'm aware, I just don't consider it relevant.

I mean the british invented the word soccer to describe the sport. They also created the sport itself (in its modern iteration and rules).

It comes from the phrase association football. You're just ignorant it's a term that's from the same place where football was created

¡Coge tu fútbol!

Just means "grab your football" in Spain, but means something completely different in Argentina ;)

I don't think anyone would say that in Spain, as long as they are not having a stroke.

Very strong stroke.

Hah. My Spanish is riddled with errors, I admit, even though I lived in Spanish speaking countries for about 5 years. Coger is a word I just completely avoid at all costs. Terminar also. I learn mostly by public embarrassment, and patient explanation, so please tell me why it wouldn't be proper to say "pick up your football" that way?

You are right about the "coger" (to pick up / to fuck) part. But fútbol is just the sport. You'd talk about "coger la pelota / balón".

I'd assume is the same in Argentina, but I do not know that for certain.

In Argentina “terminar” is OK but “acabar” (almost same meaning) is the dangerous one.

We don’t call the ball itself fútbol in Argentina, only the game. The ball is la pelota.

Not in the USA it isn’t, and this website is hosted in the USA and it seems likely that at least the largest plurality, if not majority, of readers live in the USA.

> and this website is hosted in the USA

of all the arguments in the world this is the worst one. A nationalist leftover reminding us that while the internet has potential for global unity, someone will forcibly drag it down to worldly borders

You’re the one chiding people for speaking their native language online because it differs from yours.

Nothing screams international unity quite like getting upset some people call a game soccer in their normal language.

That's not really how the internet works.

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