Word Mapping [Not suitable for those with an aversion to prof*nity.]
This site provides advice to current and prospective referees in the Football Association in England. As an aside, the term “soccer” that is more commonly used in the US, Canada, Australia, and a few other countries comes from an abbreviation of “association football”. Perhaps the abbreviation was created after an extended drinking bout that resulted in a significant slurring of speech.
And while I’m already off course, I take issue with those who say we in the States should call the sport football, since it is called football in the English speaking parts of the UK, futbol in Spanish, futebol in Portuguese, fussball in German, and voetball in Dutch. But, what about Italy? They call the sport calcio (or perhaps more completely, gioco del calcio), which an Italian friend told me literally means “to kick”, as in a ball or a person. How come I never hear people criticizing the Italians for not calling the game piedesfera? Okay, enough of that.
One of the highlights of the aforementioned referees’ advice site is a Venn diagram that tries to illustrate what punishment a ref should dole out for specific examples of bad language. This is useful info for the non-Brit, as I had never received the memo indicating that bollocks and piss off were semantically so closely related. And who knew that shag needed to be carefully concealed as sh&g?
[via Boing Boing]