Etymology
See also: Football (word)In the United Kingdom, rugby union or rugby league fans rarely refer to their sport as "football" as in most cases this would refer to association football. Across the United Kingdom, rugby union is usually referred to simply as 'rugby' but in and around North of England, the word 'rugby' could refer to either sport, but usually means 'rugby league'. The nickname "rugger", which developed in England's elite schools, almost always refers to rugby union. Rugby league is usually referred to as simply "football" or "footy" in the Australian states of Queensland, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory. Rugby union is usually referred to simply as "rugby" by its followers, who generally refer to rugby league as "league". In other states people refer to both codes as "rugby". In New Zealand, "football" usually refers to either rugby union or association football, but depending on context could refer to rugby league. "Rugby", which almost universally refers to rugby union, is mostly used without any existing context. Rugby league is usually called "rugby league" or simply "league".
In France, rugby union is called rugby à quinze (rugby with 15) or simply "rugby" whilst rugby league is known as rugby à treize (rugby with 13) or jeu à treize (game with 13) or treize (13). In Italy the term "rugby" generally defines rugby union, but if a distinction is needed rugby league is called rugby a 13. In South Africa, Georgia, Japan, Romania and Argentina rugby league is not very well known and rugby union is simply called "rugby". In countries such as the United States, where neither code of rugby football is very well known, the two forms of the game are rarely distinguished between and "rugby" could refer to either. Rugby union is more commonly encountered in the United States, as it is the code of choice among college clubs; it is usually referred to simply as rugby. Rugby league is usually specifically referred to as rugby league. In Canada, both sports are known as English rugby. Canadian rugby is an alternate, but increasingly obsolete, term for Canadian football, as both it and American football are derived from early versions of rugby.
Read more about this topic: Comparison Of Rugby League And Rugby Union
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)