Message:111 by General Eerie

SOCCER: THE ORIGINS

The origin of the word "football" is clear to everyone: foot plus ball. But how did the term "soccer" come about? This is General Eerie with message 111 for his fellow earthians. 

The term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford "-er" abbreviation of the word "association". Well, the sport was known as Association Football (distinguishing it from rugby football). British school kids commandeered part of the word "association" to form a pet name for the sport. Then the following evolution occurred:

AS-SOC-IATION -> "SOCCA" (1889) -> "SOCKER" (1891) -> "SOCCER" (1895).

Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom, and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. Other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, may use either or both terms.