Last time, we chatted a little about tennis. Recently, a very special sporting event has taken over the news worldwide. Take a guess? Yes, that’s right — I’m referring to the World Cup. I’m sure most of you are familiar with this event, which is held once every four years. This year’s World Cup is being held in Brazil, a Portuguese-speaking country.

    However, if you asked someone what sport is involved in the World Cup, you might hear more than one answer. In fact, in the United States, you’d probably hear “soccer.” If you were to ask someone who spoke British English, you’d probably hear it called “football” (a.k.a. “association football”). Even more confusing, the word football in America refers to the sport played during the Super Bowl, where an olive-shaped ball is tossed around. Therefore, the word “football” can mean two drastically different activities depending on where you are, and the game where you kick a ball to score a goal is called either soccer or football. Not surprisingly, the two terms are linked. Apparently, the word soccer was originally used in the upper classes of British society, and grew out of the word “as-soc-iation” in “association football.” Overtime, “soccer” assumed prevalence in America. The discrepancy between “football” and “soccer” is just one of the many ways in which American English and British English differ. There are quite a few words that mean different things, and quite a few things that are represented by different words.

    In terms of spelling the same words, a common difference is in the use of the letter “s” as opposed to “z.” For instance, “organization” is spelled “organisation” in British English. Another variation you may spot is spelling with “re” as opposed to “er.” In the United States, people go to “theaters” instead of “theatres” or the “center” of town instead of the town “centre.”

    Differences in the languages could be a result of different cultural, historical or social contexts.

    Regardless, next time you hear something that stands out besides the accents, don’t forget to look up the etymology. You may be surprised by what you find.

    Sincerely,

    Bingyin