Updated June 19, 2026 at 1:10 PM EDT
If you're an American football fan, talking of tight ends, touchdowns and turnovers is as easy as finding a Green Bay Packers fan inside Lambeau Field.
But if you're curious about the other football — also known as the most popular sport in the world — there's a litany of soccer vocabulary you need to know. And with the World Cup's arrival in the United States, it's the perfect time to expand your understanding of soccer lingo.
Morning Edition spoke to Tom Lutz, sports editor of The Guardian US, about the essential terms spectators and nascent fans ought to know. You can review the brief guide below that'll make you sound a little more like a soccer pro.
Is it soccer or is it football?
When football was in its infancy, being played in English private schools, it was called soccer to differentiate the sport from rugby football.
"So actually, if you're saying soccer, some people may say you're being an idiot. But actually, you may be being more genuine than the average fan," Lutz told NPR's Leila Fadel.
The dreaded offside rule
"Offside" is not used to describe that awkward moment when you've been seated in your opponent's section during a game.
It is a rule that offensive players must follow to score a goal legally.
A player is offside when they have the ball and there are fewer than two defensive players between them and the goal. It's okay for a player to be in an offside position, so long as they aren't involved in active play.
Diving, not flopping
When a player hurls themself into the ground, bringing the game to a screeching halt, it's not an expression of unbridled frustration but instead a keen strategic move. This action of players throwing themselves to the ground is referred to as "diving" — though many viewers may mistakenly call it "flopping" instead.
"If you want to kind of try and win a foul, and you've barely been touched, you kind of dive to the ground, pretend you're in agony," said Lutz.
Squeaky bum time
Speaking of sitting in chairs, "squeaky bum time" is one of the game's more colorful terms.
It comes from legendary Manchester United coach, Sir Alex Ferguson, describing the atmosphere of a stadium when it's close to the end of a game and fans are nervous about whether their team is going to win or not.
"Fans squirming in their plastic seats would make them squeak," NPR's Steve Inskeep said in response to Lutz's explanation.
Nutmeg is more than a spice
The cooking ingredient nutmeg has a completely different meaning in soccer.
To nutmeg someone is to deliberately kick the ball through a defender's legs. It's a display of skill, and "it's also seen as humiliating the opposing defender," said Lutz.
Parking the bus
After the defense has been nutmegged, and an offensive player has tried to make a shot at the goal, it may be time to park the bus.
"When you're trying not to concede a goal and you just put all your defenders in front of the goal, it's like parking a bus in front of the goal mouth," said Lutz.
It's one of the few times parking a bus on a football field is encouraged.
Copyright 2026 NPR
