Barry Akin's comments are fascinating and pertinent. But he errs when he says: "by the 1950s British usage was to call the round ball game 'football' and the oval ball game 'rugby'. The word 'soccer' had become relegated to slang usage only."

First, both "soccer" and "rugger" are and always have been slang, so how can they become "relegated to slang usage only"?

Second, "soccer" and "rugger" were what we called the games, both of which were played at my school, St Paul's in London, from 1950 to 1957.

Anthony Stadlen
"Oakleigh"
2A Alexandra Avenue
GB - London N22 7XE
Tel.: +44 (0) 20 8888 6857
For Existential Psychotherapy and Inner Circle Seminars see:
http://anthonystadlen.blogspot.com

In a message dated 18/07/2012 18:33:19 GMT Daylight Time, ba@TAXBAR.COM writes:

Nabokov would have been aware that in British usage “soccer” was used to distinguish “association football” from “rugby football” – “rugger” - but by the 1950s British usage was to call the round ball game “football” and the oval ball game “rugby”. The word “soccer” had become relegated to slang usage only.