“The word ‘soccer’ remains at the heart of one of the most enduring, if comparatively low-key and petty fronts of the culture war. At its most basic level, it’s a transatlantic disagreement over language, but there seems to be more to it than that. The most basic and probably most sensible point of view is that it’s simply one country — America, though there are others — using a word to differentiate one extremely popular sport from a slightly less popular sport. But use the word in the wrong context — which is to say, ‘in England’ — and you can expect paroxysms of disgust from people who seem to think it represents something much deeper. These people are, admittedly, those who are far too easily outraged (check their sent email files and there’s a reasonable chance they have also complained to a TV station about a newsreader not wearing a tie), but it seems like these people think of this as somehow chipping away at the identity of the game, and even themselves. It’s an Americanism, as everyone knows, and this is apparently something to be suspicious of. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
The Origin, History, and Invention of Soccer