http://www.forbes.com/sites/pascalemmanuelgobry/2014/06/13/football-or-soccer-world-cup/
(A recent forbes article touches on the history of the word soccer. I dont need to paraphrase it you can read it yourself. Essentially soccer is short for association football. The word was created long ago in its home country of england. It is not an American word contrary to popular myth)
I am about to touch on an issue that has bothered me for years. The name of the beautiful game. That Name? If you speak english, Chances are you call the game soccer. You are probably thinking "thats preposterous" in Britain and the isles its called football. That is true....but the majority of english speakers dont live in those countries.
The following countries , the populous uses the word soccer in favor of football.
Australia: (football means Rugby league or Aussie rules) National Team The Socceroos, population 22.6 million
New Zealand: (football means rugby union) population 4.4 million
South Africa (chances are if you say football you mean rugby) population 51.1 million
Canada: (football means American/canadian football) population 34.8 Million
Ireland: (football means Gaelic Football) population 4.5 million
The United States of America (American football) population 313.9 million
Now i am not trying to claim that every person in all those countries says soccer instead of football. I am not naive. But chances are Soccer is the go to name for most english speakers. So why is it that Americans get the bad rap calling it soccer? Reason? we are the largest target. The brits dont yell at the aussies for calling their team the Socceroos instead of footballeroos (yea it sounds worse). That name is endeared. Fact is we arent alone in calling it soccer. So please continue to use the word. It is the name of the game. It is what we call the beautiful game of Association Football.
Here is a friendly tip for the word Football.
Football= Poker.
When you say poker you may be referring to several games. 7 card stud, omaha, texas holdem, 5 card draw, razz, 2-7, and many more.
Poker is adaptable, poker is a broad stroke term.
Football is also a broad stroke term. There are many football codes (the majority of which permit carrying the ball).
Football could mean:
Association Football
American Football: Which if you want to know gets its name because originally the only way to score was by field goal. A touchdown was worth nothing. It was a way to get a free kick.
Gaelic Football
Rugby Union Football and Rugby League Football
and Australian Rules Football( or international rules football (look it up))
So we all love football, and when we say soccer we just distinguish from the many games we play and love.
Don't be a football Snob.
If you speak English chances are you say Soccer.
-Lets Go Revs
P.S. In Italian the game is called kick.....