Olivia Ralston – Reading Journal 12

In this image, the different names for soccer are displayed with the accompanying flag of which country calls it what.  As demonstrated, the United States is the only country that calls it soccer, and as such, has the dragon that looks the dumbest. This is a reaction to the rest of the world following a convention while the united states do not. You can also see that all three heads appear to be attached to the same body, reflecting how the whole world is interconnected. Memes have become their own language over time. Sometimes there are layers upon layers of a joke with a meme that you must be aware of. And this one specifically, you have to be aware of the fact that the US calls it soccer while the rest of the world calls it football; you also have to be aware that the stupid-looking dragon is an insult instead of a compliment, and lastly, you have to be aware of the sarcasm that is inherent in such a joke, which have been established through years of Internet culture. Overall, this meme is trying to say that the US’s naming convention for soccer is stupid when you compare it to the rest of the world. However, this isn’t the first time the US has done this. It is also a commentary on the broader trend of the US always having to be different. I mean, when you think about it, everybody else uses the metric system, and we use the imperial system also everybody uses. Celsius, and we use Fahrenheit. These little differences, in addition to the soccer, add another layer of humor to the piece.

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