If I’m talking to an English speaker from outside of the US, is there any confusion if I say “soccer”?

For example, when I was in college a friend asked for a “torch”. I was confused for quite some time, because I didn’t know it was another word for “flashlight”. Does the same thing happen with the word “soccer”? Should I clarify by saying, “…or football”?

Thank you!

  • hactar42@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    I’m an American who lived in England for a couple of years. Due to American media the majority of everyone understood what I meant when I said things like soccer, trunk or hood of a car, fries, etc. Words with different meanings between the two could get confusing like biscuit, chips, or pissed.

    Since soccer doesn’t have another meaning I never ran into someone who didn’t know what I was talking about. However, when saying football in an American accent some thought I was referring to American Football by default.

    I can only remember one instant where someone did not know what I was talking about. That was when I asked someone at work where the dumpster was and I got a blank stare. I explained, the big metal thing outside for trash and they were like, “oh the skip”