Strategic Discourse Console

On: Football shouldn't be called soccer

Slang has been making its way into the common vernacular for ages - historical usage should not necessarily be used as the primary metric for determining the common use of a word or phrase. While language has inherent meaning, the understanding of its meaning can shift over time.

Intent summary: Argue that evolving common usage, rather than historical precedent, should guide what the sport is called.

On: Football shouldn't be called soccer

While 'soccer' is common in the US, it is technically just 19th-century university slang. 'Football' has been used since the 1400s. If we care about the sport's history and authenticity, we should probably stick to the original name, even in the States.

Intent summary: Argues that the sport should be called 'football' rather than 'soccer' in the US based on historical usage and authenticity.

On: Football shouldn't be called soccer

I assume the contention is the verbiage related to European football? Because “soccer” is the appropriate term, in the US, for the sport where you kick a ball around the field and try to ultimately send it into a net. I understand the rest of the world might disagree 😅.

Intent summary: Argue that “soccer” is the appropriate term in the US for the sport commonly called football elsewhere while acknowledging international disagreement.

On: Football shouldn't be called soccer

The author states, "The first rule of football is… don't call it soccer," and describes avoiding the term "soccer" as crucial to sounding like a knowledgeable long-time fan. https://blog.oup.com/2014/07/football-soccer-vocabulary/

Intent summary: To support the position that the sport should be called football rather than soccer by citing an external source that frames the terminology as a marker of knowledgeable fandom.