How do you say "football" in your native language?
By stvasile
@stvasile (7306)
Romania
March 12, 2008 10:58am CST
Almost all of us know the sport that has taken over most of The World. Two teams of 11 players trying to score more goals that the opponents...
I once started a discussion arguing for the use of "football" and demolishing "soccer". To further argue my point, I would like to ask you what word do you use in your native language to name this sport?
Does the word you use has something to do with how the game is played (as in the English "foot" + "ball", because the game involves kicking the ball with the feet) or is it taken from another language (as in the Romanian "fotbal" taken from the English "football", but which doesn't have a Romanian semantic relevance)?
2 people like this
9 responses
@Skills (89)
• Croatia (Hrvatska)
14 Mar 08
Croatian word for football is "nogomet".
This word was "invented" by Slavko Rutzner Radmilovic (I don't know when and who is that guy...).It's actually two words in one: "noga" = foot and "meta" = target.Word describes the aim of the game because you're sending the ball towards the target with your foot (it's a lot easier to explain in Croatian,but I hope you got it).
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
17 Mar 08
We say football and it's a generic term that covers Rugby League, Rugby Union, Australian rules and....soccer. These games are all played in a manner where the foot is used to kick the ball...except in rugby league where the ball is thrown around by men running up and down the field all trying to get the ball from the other team by wrestling them to the ground so they can put it under the goal posts...this is called a "try" then they attempt to "convert the try" by kicking a goal.
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
5 Mar 10
Football in Maltese is Futbol.
not much different from English word as it is derived from it.
Soccer was introduced by the British navy teams that used to be in Malta.
So Maltese soccer owes a lot to the british.
@Foxfire1875 (2010)
•
12 Mar 08
I had to look this up in my Gaelic notes, as I wasn't sure there was but there is a Scots gaelic word for football it's 'ball-coise' and translates as ball foot.
I agree totally with you Stvasile, the word soccer should be abolished, as how many countries actually use it. I would guess most european countries will have a variation of the word football.
