this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2026
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It’s called football because it’s primarily played with the feet (unlike that other ”football” game).
You mean handegg
American football has been referred to as just football (in America) longer than football (soccer) was called just football in Britain. It was called association football as a distinct game separate from rugby football and other football games. Football distinguishing it from games played on horseback. Soccer was British slang from association (similarly at the time rugby football has slang term rugger.) Eventually the association part fell out of use but other countries that had developed their own football games tended to still call it soccer. I don't really care either way, I'll call it football when talking to people who call it football and soccer with people who call out soccer, I just think the origin of the terms is pretty interesting.
This may blow your mind but there are other countries and they have always called it football (or the localized equivalent).
The problem with this line of argument is that basketball would also be football, as would baseball, cricket, hockey, and even cycling.
You mean football, football, football, knifeball, and wheelball?
May I suggest:-
Bouncy-football, hotdog-football, 5day-football, ice-football, wheel-football
You had me until cycling. Which would clearly be "ball-less tech polo" or something like that 🤷🏻
We sometimes call bicycles "wire donkeys"
Only in the US, though. It's yet another of their silly regionalisms that confuses everyone.
Cars are horseless carriages. Does that mean they are more or less likely to fall into the football category?
Those are wheelies in America
Counterargument. I've never seen cycling done on horseback. Therfore it is football.
Unless we classify a bike as a mechanical horse. Then we have mountain horsing, road horsing. Trick horsing. And all the velodrome horsing events.
I've never seen it done on foot or with a ball either, though.
Two-wheel chasies?
Or as a compromise, Wheelhorsing around?
There are not many sports left to invent.
Bike Football
Horse Rugby (as seen in rambo)
The fuck did I just watch?
I'm not beholden to what some rich kids (not my class) of the university of Rugby or Oxford or whatever (not my town) in England (not my country) called the sport once upon a time.
For that matter, you're not beholden to call it anything. You could make up a new term for it if you wanted. Don't let "the man" stop you!
That's the spirit! And I do, now that I think of it. I call it Fubbes.
Same. I don't remember when I had the urge to check soccer/football term origins and was pleasantly surprised about it. IIRC it also have some class segregation about it as well (of course it does).
It’s called football because people run around on their feet, as opposed to horseback for polo.
So basketball, baseball and handball is basically football too, neat.
I suppose they are.
Except here in America we call them “ketter”, “baser” and “hander”
Handy? Can you get a job doing that?
In Germany there are shops dedicated to selling handys.
Conveniently, yes.
Are you proposing to renaming polo to horse golf? This logic is a bit weird but sure.
Excellent idea tbh!
It’s because it’s played on foot, rather than horseback like many early sports
But close
That's not necessarily why, the origins of the word are lost to the mists of time. Either might be true!
Handegg
Why can't it be HandOlive