David Beckham’s English-American, Football-Soccer Phrasebook
By: Daryl | July 14th, 2007Amid all the razzmatazz, confetti and messiah worship of David Beckham’s LA Galaxy press conference there was one beautiful cultural moment, around the 1:35 mark.
“The most important thing for me is my family, the second is the footba … is the soccer. [mild embarrassment] I’ll get used to that at some point. I’m sorry.”
Indeed. To help Becks avoid any more minor transatlantic mishaps, here’s a rudimentary English-American, Football-Soccer Phrasebook:
Just so we’re clear, one set of phrases isn’t any better or worse than the other. They are what they are. “Soccer” for example, is not such a dirty word. Too often it’s used to mock America’s perceived misunderstanding of the sport, but in truth it’s fairly common in England (see.) More so when the Sunday tabloids want an alliterative headline (”Soccer Star in Sex Scandal” etc.)
More to the point, the word “soccer” isn’t just an American exception, it’s used in any country that already has a sport called football. In Ireland and Australia for example, the presence of Gaelic Football and Aussie Rules Football (both great games by the way) necessitate use of the word “soccer.” So there.
So, this phrasebook isn’t intended to denigrate American soccer phrases, just to help Becks and anyone else who crosses the Atlantic (in either direction) to play the beautiful game make sure they’re understood on the pitch. Or should that be field? I’ll get used to this at some point, sorry.
| English | American |
| football | soccer |
| squad | roster |
| fixtures | schedule |
| shirt | jersey |
| kit | uniform |
| boots | cleats |
| shin pads | shin guards |
| sent off | ejected |
| foul by Mastroeni | foul on Mastroeni |
| attack | offense |
| draw | tie |
| reserves | second string* |
| pitch | field |
| derby | rivalry |
| terraces | stands |
| clean sheet | shut out |
*hopefully Becks won’t need to learn that one
Any more we can add to the list?
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Comments
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Here’s another one:
American: L.A. Galaxy
English: Watford F.C.Posted from
United States
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English: Nap time
American: Afternoon BaseballPosted from
United States -
Should “offense” and “attack” be reversed?
Posted from
United States -
Well spotted Percy, it’s been fixed.
Posted from
United States -
I think that there are a couple of those that need tweaking. Some of those are American equivalents, but only sport specific.
In the context of a soccer match, we wouldn’t use “second-string” we would probably use subs or reserves. It comes from someone who is a backup in American football, but since the sport has become more complicated it only really gets used for the quarterback. I don’t think that anyone would really use it for soccer.
As far as “ejected,” that is generally only used commonly in basketball. Baseball we would say someone was “thrown out of the game” and American Football it happens so rarely there isn’t really a term for it. We would probably just use “red-carded” or “sent off” in a soccer match.
MVP is also a little different of a concept than “man of the match.” Except for the Super Bowl, “Most Valuable Player” is never used in a one match scenario. It is the equivalent of the “Player of the Year” awards that are given in England. We would probably say “player of the game” but in soccer commentary “man of the match” is used as is.
The draw/tie thing is a little over-stated. We do know what the word “draw” means and would probably employ it for soccer terminology.
Offense is generally used in other American sports, but I think that it is rarely if ever used in a soccer context.
I think in general most “soccer” fans in the U.S. are surprisingly knowledgeable about Europe and English terms. So, within a soccer context, most of the English terms are the default terms.
A couple that you might want to add are
pitch-field
derby-rivalry matchPosted from
United States -
Great excerpt.
Thank you.
Posted from
United States -
English:Club
American:Team
Posted from
United States -
tyduffy,
Agree that some of these terms are rarely used by soccer fans (eg “ejected”) and am definitely not arguing that these terms are always used.
Would also never argue that Americans don’t understand the English terms. Almost any American soccer fan has a familiarity with foreign football and therefore will be familiar with the phrases.
It’s actually more likely that English fans (or players like Beckham) could be confused by certain American phrases, which is the point of the phrasebook.
Which isn’t to claim those phrases are always used. Just that they sometimes are. “Ejected” is a good example. I agree it’s not commonly used, but I’ve definitely heard it used more than once. Same with “offense,” “tie” etc.
Also, definitely agree about MVP not directly translating to Man of the Match. Is it fair to say it’s more like Player of the Season? And is there a more direct American term that’s a parallel for Man of the Match?
Also, 100% agree with everything you say here and I’d argue that it would be impossibly confusing if all Americans started referring to soccer as football, for obvious reasons, and so US soccer fans would be better off if they ceased to be embarrassed by the word and just embraced it. Of course, as you point out, The Guardian aren’t helping matters.
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United States -
I’ve never heard the phrase wall pass, I think we use one two as well if anyone is even noticing.
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United States -
english: clean sheet
american: shut outenglish: derby
American: rivalryenglish: the terraces
american: the standsPosted from
United States -
I think that the American translation for “Man of the Match” would most likely be “Player of the Game.” We might also say that someone got the “game ball,” but that is almost exclusively used for American Football. The problem is that the “man of the match” in the States almost always has some absurd corporate sponsorship attached to it, so you will get an automobile company sponsoring the “sparkplug of the game award” or something ridiculous like that.
I’ve honestly never heard “wall pass” used either.
Posted from
United States
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