• AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    3·
    6 months ago

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_(word)

    It’s been around for almost a millennia.

    And I’m not proposing a new standard, I’m continuing use of a standard introduced by working class Brits in the early 20th century, so that xkcd really doesn’t apply at all.

    It means something specific TODAY. You’re suggesting to have it mean something new and different. It doesn’t matter if that meaning was used a century ago, that’s not what the comic is referencing.

      • AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        2·
        6 months ago

        we use it to refer to Canadian rules football AND Gaelic rules football AND American football

        ‘we’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, considering that’s like 5% of the world population that would refer to it that way.

          • AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            2·
            6 months ago

            ~100% of English speakers will recognize the ambiguity

            Everybody outside of said countries will consider ‘football’ to refer to, well, football, without any ambiguity. They may be aware Americans are idiots about it but it’s not something that comes up in daily conversation.

              • AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                3·
                6 months ago

                You want to use the word football exclusively to refer to soccer because your goal is to be exclusionary

                No, our goal is to use our already understood terms the way we understand them.

                You don’t want those stupid Americans to talk about your favorite sport.

                They’re welcome to. I don’t watch ANY sports. The closest I get to it is arguing with online trolls.

                But I really want to talk about soccer with y’all a lot

                Sure, go ahead. Nobody’s stopping you.

                rich history and culture associated with the word soccer in favor of the word that British aristocrats used to distinguish themselves from working class soccer fans

                Go read the link I posted about the etymology of the word football. Why are you discarding that rich history and culture?

                what you’re willing to sacrifice just to keep me out of the conversation.

                You have a highly inflated opinion of yourself if you think the English speaking world made language choices with you in mind.