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I'm from the UK, we call soccer "football" here. The sport that people in the US call "football" we call "American Football". Many countries call soccer "footba

I'm from the UK, we call soccer "football" here. The sport that people in the US call "football" we call "American Football". Many countries call soccer "football" (or variations thereof, depending on their native language). I've never heard anyone use the term "football" to describe rugby, though rugby (union) was supposedly a spinoff from football (rugby league came later). To add to the confusion, there are two other sports that have the name football, namely Gaelic Football and Aussie Rules Football, both of which are popular in their home countries.

incompatible 9y ago
I originated in New Zealand, and football generally meant rugby. Maybe things have changed since then or maybe I don't remember correctly. I didn't realise American football could be abbreviated to football. We also knew it as gridiron, and it always seemed like the very definition of boring, repetitive sport. Guy takes the ball, runs at the opposition, is taken down, everybody stands around chatting for ~10 minutes, repeat :)