Being born in the States, I grew up calling the beautiful game by its less popular and accepted name, soccer. However, after playing in England and constantly being reminded, "It's football, not soccer, you American twat!" I now refer to it more often as football. So, which is the proper name of the game? Football or soccer? Football makes sense since you play the game with your feet, but where the heck did soccer come from?

It turns out, neither 'football' nor 'soccer' is the sport's official title. The proper and original name of the game is 'association football,' coined in England in 1863. The word 'association' was added to distinguish it from other sports like rugby, which also used 'football' in its name.

'Soccer' is an abbreviation of the word 'association,' and guess what? It was the British who created the abbreviation, so ha! Who's the twat now? No, but in all seriousness, the name began as association football, was shortened to soccer, then interchangeably used as football or soccer. Now, it's predominantly referred to as football outside of particular countries like the US, where football more often describes a different sport.

To be completely honest, I'm more accustomed to using 'soccer' since that's what I grew up calling it both in the States and in Japan. Maybe it's just me, but it rolls off the tongue easier. Nowadays, I use both 'soccer' and 'football' interchangeably, but I'm now considering calling it by its official title.

"What sport do you play?"

"I engage in the noble pastime of association football, good sir!"

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