Shoes or Boots? Field or Pitch? Zero-zero or nil-nil? Etc.

[usscouse]

Originally posted by RichardL
There is something pathetically sad about hearing someone from England describe a girl as a "chick".

I'd never heard the word "cleats" before using these boards though.

Technically the difference between a boot and a shoe is that a boot covers the ankle and a shoe doesn't, so from that point of view the USA is actually correct. I'd imagine when the game was first played people wore boots (as normal shoes would have been ruined) which became specialised with studs etc, and over time these 'football boots' became styled into what we know them to be today - but the name stuck.

Pitch? I've no idea, but it does seem to be only used in a sporting field context. You wouldn't, for example, go camping and put up a tent in a pitch.

Zero is more commonly used than nil throughout Europe (except the UK).
Oh to be young again Richard.
We wore boots up into the 60’s, high tops to cover the ankles as you said but the studs were nailed into the soles with 3 nails in each stud.

Cleats used on American high topped sports shoes were really metal angles screwed or nailed to the sole, a lot like climbing cleats.
They do tend to leave nasty gashes, Imagine Danny Mills with a set of these

When I used to race bicycles we had metal cleats on the sole to trap the pedals then we’d cinch down with toe straps over.

[Craig the Aussie]

Originally posted by Boro_lad


but you do have 4 x...please let that be true......




XXXX is really only drunk by Queenslanders - strange people. The most popular beer is VB (Victoria Bitter - although its more a strong lager than a bitter as the English would know it). Its not the best beer by a long way, but its the biggest seller nationally.

On the topic we say:

Field (or park)
Boots
Nil-all
Jersey or shirt (not kit)
Rugby states say "in touch", Aussie Rules states say "out-of bounds"

[LiverpoolFanatic]

Originally posted by empennage


They say, "England are playing well today", but we say"England is playing well today." I know it's a minor thing, but it totally bugs me because it seems like incorrect grammar.

They say it that way because it is a collective "they" term. As in they are playing well. As for grammar, it is English after all - the most goofed up language on Earth.

As far as the rest of it goes, when I was a kid and watched soccer on TV (mostly indoor KC Comets games) I didn't know any of the various terminology, nor can I remember what the announcers used. After living in England, I learned their terminology, and generally use it especially when talking to other people who know soccer.

It doesn't bother me that some announcers use field, shoes, etc. I do wish Jack Edwards would once in his life call a freekick a freekick though, instead of constantly saying "the restart". But as someone mentioned, it's all the same game.

[LiverpoolFanatic]

Originally posted by kenntomasch
[B
If you lay it on too thick, you might as well go with the John Harkes/Brad Friedel phony English accent as well.

[/B]

That's not phony. It's a fact of life. Where you live determines the accent you pick up. When I lived over there, I was confused as being British by Americans. I knew people that had lived in Scotland for a while and picked up a bit of a Scottish accent. If you live in a place long enough, you will start to sound a little bit like the locals. Your NYC, Alabama, or Texas accent will still come out at times, especially when excited, peeved etc, but at other times you'll sound just like Brad Friedel.

[RichardL]

Originally posted by maczebus



I have a small theory-ette on this.
I know when the clubs were just starting to be formed, the clubs weren't exclusively footballing. Often cricket was also part of the club - I know this was the case for PNE and am fairly sure Sheffield Wednesday were similar, as were probably others.
Cricket is played on a pitch, and since the game of cricket was substantially more founded than football was, football was to be played on the cricket pitch and not cricket being played on a football field.
Just a thought.

still doesn't explain why the cricketers called it a pitch though.

Of course if Americans want to experience the full richness of British terms they should get hold of a tape of any match being co-commentated on by Ron Atkinson. This man seems to invent football terms at the drop of a hat, normally completely bewildering all around him - Talking about a teams setting their stall out early doors aiming for the big fella on the back stick, etc.

[bungadiri]

Here's another good English-ism:

Telling someone "fair play" before a match is nice, in that it suggests that's all that is needed for them to well. "Good luck" seems a little less complimentary to me, although in reality I doubt many recipients of either do anything but appreciate it as an expression of support.

However, whenever I'm wishing someone well "good luck" is usually what I tell them.

[Clan]

Can you imagine the looks on American faces if you had two cockneys commentating on a game and using rhyming slang.

Fuking hilarious it would be.

[bungadiri]

Originally posted by Clanblue
Can you imagine the looks on American faces if you had two cockneys commentating on a game and using rhyming slang.

Fuking hilarious it would be.

Actually, given how popular Guy Ritchie's films (complete with guide to rhyming slang) are over here, and--based on BS evidence--especially among soccer fans, I doubt it would go over as big as you think. Plus, it'd be kind of like those jokes about hip-hop sportscasters (among other things). Been there, done that.

[Prenn]

Originally posted by Clanblue
Can you imagine the looks on American faces if you had two cockneys commentating on a game and using rhyming slang.

Fuking hilarious it would be.

It'd be more confusing if they used two people who had accents away from cockney or posh. Americans are not exposed to Brummie, scouse, Manc, Sheff, Geordie etc...

God help them ;)

[Gaspard]

Originally posted by Dave216J
OK, I've been around a lot of European and American soccer/football fans, and use lots of the terms interchangeably, but I was hoping someone could answer a question for me. The other day on a broadcast of a British commentator doing a game, he said that the defense was "at all 6s and 9s." Then I played FIFA 2001 at a friends house, and in the process of getting whooped, the commentators told me that I had "6s and 7s at the back."

What do these expressions mean, or rather (since I gather that they mean the defense sucks) where do the expressions come from?

At sixes and sevens, it means a state of confusion and disorder.

Seen two derivations, here's one:

"..In any case, the phrase "at sixes and sevens," which we use to mean "confused" or "at odds with someone" originally came from gambling with dice. As first used by Chaucer in "The Canterbury Tales" around 1374, "to set on six and seven" meant to risk your entire fortune on the unlikely chance that a single roll of the dice would produce a high score. Only later on did the phrase come to describe a person who would be sufficiently confused or rash to make such a bet, and, still later, to mean disorder or disagreement."


Other is:
"Each of the major London Livery Companies is ranked in order of precedence or seniority. The Merchant Tailors and the Skinners were in a lengthy competition for sixth place, often displacing each other to seventh place. Hence the term, "at sixes and sevens".


The etymological rule of thumb seems to be to go with the most boring, so take your pick.

[Gaspard]

Originally posted by QPR Kevin H

Remember, when we go over to London this autumn...oops I mean fall - if the bartender asks what we'd like....we want a BEER. In a glass. If they ask full or half pint, tell them we dont know what that means - WE'RE AMERICAN AND WE LIVE IN THE GREATEST GODDAMN COUNTRY ON EARTH. Just pour it in a glass, or better yet - just put my enormous cowboy hat under the tap.

Who the hell goes into a bar and orders "beer"? Do you order "food" in a restaurant? Look around the place, pick up some visual cues, the brand names on the taps for instance. Probably a line of bottles or a price list somwehere behind the bar. I might be waiting for a drink while you take up the bartender's valuable time having him list every goddamn brand they sell. Hurry up! I'm thirsty!

Boots: yes.
Nil: no.
Pitch: debatable.
Match: sometimes.
Gaffer: never, unfortunately.
Pronouncing controversy "con-troversy": funny.

[RichardL]

Gaffer is a term more used by players than supporters (or fans for those who wish to debate which of the two they are). A few years ago when Mark McGhee was Reading's player/manager he insisted that the players always call him 'Gaffer' (even on the pitch during the match) rather than 'Mark' or 'tubby lard-arse' which would have seemed more natural.
Also over here it's always manager rather than head-coach or coach. The coach is normally someone brought in by the manager to do the coaching of the players, but this role is often titled 'assistant manager' these days. It all goes back to the days when the coach would coach the players while the manager would buy/sell players and pick the team, the two roles being oddly separate.

[bocatuna]

I understand the male U.S fans perfectly but I have no idea what the fck their taking about in the Women's forums.

[Nate2L]

Originally posted by GoDC
You are doing the right thing. Speak American, not English.

Dumbass, there is no language called American. We speak English. You would be correct in saying the Queen's English talking about the way British people talk and the words they us. Sorry just had to correct you, I guess it is the British in me and the fact I am around some Brits quiet often.

[Publius]

The British term I haven't really gotten a handle on yet is "tie" which seems to be another term for "match." I've normally come across the term in reference to the F.A. Cup, but then I've also heard the term "Cup-tied" used to describe a player who cannot play for his team in a cup tournament because he has already appeared for another team in the same tournament.

[seahawkdad]

Originally posted by Nook1


Amen! I have done play-by-play of soccer at all levels (high school, college, USL and MLS), and I use a strictly American vocabulary: field, shoes, nothing, out of bounds, on target (instead of 'on frame'). I am an American broadcasting to Americans, so why should I use a different dialect? The American style of soccer broadcasting is still evolving, and my influence is very Latin, since I'm bilingual.

To me the maddening (and interesting) thing is that a number of play-by-play announcers of traditional US sports are starting to pick up the English use of the plural forms of verbs to describe a team. I can understand how Americans can drift into this, as in "DC United are...', or "the Freedom are..." because it's soccer and that's the way they hear the Brits say it. But it used to be "DC United is having a hell of a game..." (you'll appreciate the irony here), not "DC United are having a hell of a game." The verb agreed with the subject, as in "The University of Utah is winning," and "The Utes are winning." Same situation. All that's changed is the subject. The Brits would say the "The University of Utah are winning" and "The Utes are winning."

When that slips into announcing traditional US sports, though, I don't know whether to cheer because I see that soccer is making subtle inroads into our sports consciousness, or to be disgusted because it sounds pretentious unless it's a Brit doing the announcing.

Guess I'll stick to the cheering reaction so I won't be accused of adopting the French approach to the purity of language.

Here's a question. How is this handled in Spanish?

[Prenn]

Originally posted by Nate2L


You would be correct in saying the Queen's English talking about the way British people talk and the words they us

You wouldn't. I'm very English and I don't use the Queen's English. 'The Queen's English' is Received British Pronunciation (TM) or snob-speak for short.