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Elite Soccer’s Culture of Graft

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Re: Elite Soccer’s Culture of Graft

#31

Post by gerdesj »

barbecue_sauce wrote: post #24
gerdesj wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a Brit and graft means hard work. I don't think I've ever heard it used in the sense of the article though - implying corruption. Graft, grafting etc (short "a") is a word I would generally associate with the north midlands (!) of England and up, ie around Derbyshire and up. It is understood elsewhere in the UK but not used routinely. It might, say, be deployed for additional effect by someone not from northern E…

Grift means swindle, or trick, often used as a verb. Taking advantage of someone without them realizing it. Graft usually has the connotation of bribery. A con-man would be called a grifter, while a politician would be accused of graft.

Ta for the explanation.

Re: Elite Soccer’s Culture of Graft

#32

Post by gerdesj »

BookmarkSaver wrote: post #28
gerdesj wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a Brit and graft means hard work. I don't think I've ever heard it used in the sense of the article though - implying corruption. Graft, grafting etc (short "a") is a word I would generally associate with the north midlands (!) of England and up, ie around Derbyshire and up. It is understood elsewhere in the UK but not used routinely. It might, say, be deployed for additional effect by someone not from northern E…

The closest Americanism that comes to mind for this term would be "grit", which I think is a bit different as it's more about enduring hardship (or hard work) than actually working hard. I think the word "hussle" is used similarly sometimes.

I've definitely come across the word "grifter" as a synonym for someone who defrauds people ("marks") in en_US.

"Grit" is a perfectly valid en_GB word meaning the same (enduring hardship.)

Re: Elite Soccer’s Culture of Graft

#33

Post by pitt1980 »

pjc50 wrote: post #6
pitt1980 wrote: post #3

Interesting that Messi had tax problems in Spain as well. Neither of these guys are filling out their own taxes. Why did their accountants think it was a good idea to complete their taxes in a way that wound up getting them in trouble? Or why did Spain think these guys were alluring targets to spend finite prosecutorial resources on?

The answer to both questions is surely "several million dollars"? This stuff happens a lot. Celebrities don't make money through a business front nor do they get to class it as capital gains. It's all "income", so the incentive to turn it into a cheaper tax category or hide it offshore is huge. See also the Glasgow Rangers collapse due to tax fraud.

I would think protecting their image for endorsement potential is worth more than even millions of dollars of tax savings

Re: Elite Soccer’s Culture of Graft

#34

Post by r32a_ »

open-source-ux wrote: post #8

You can watch an excellent summary about Ronaldo and Messi's tax fines in this short video from Tifo Football published today: Ronaldo & Messi's Tax Fines & Suspended Prison Sentences Explained : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP5vuflIdrQ In fact, Tifo Football on YouTube is one of the best sources of news, information and analysis on football (soccer) - regardless of whether you like football or not. The quality is…

TIFO football is fantastic, they really go underneath the game and show that Football is not just a game but a branch of international Politics and finance.

Re: Elite Soccer’s Culture of Graft

#36

Post by User23 »

omaranto wrote: post #19
shellac wrote: post #11

In this article ‘graft’ means corruption or similar, rather than ‘hard work’. Slightly confusing.

The title uses the word "soccer", which should lead you to expect the American meaning of "graft" rather than the British meaning.

It’s amusing since “soccer” was British slang for association football.

Re: Elite Soccer’s Culture of Graft

#39

Post by petercooper »

sgustard wrote: post #37
shellac wrote: post #11

In this article ‘graft’ means corruption or similar, rather than ‘hard work’. Slightly confusing.

Why isn't the British term spelled "graught"?

I enjoyed the tongue in cheek question, but words where "aught" sounds like "aft" are Germanic in origin (such as laughter or draught), whereas "graft" is French in origin :-)

A lot of the more unusual spellings in British English (in particular) relate to trying to distinguish words by their origin.

Re: Elite Soccer’s Culture of Graft

#40

Post by nkurz »

sgustard wrote: post #37
shellac wrote: post #11

In this article ‘graft’ means corruption or similar, rather than ‘hard work’. Slightly confusing.

Why isn't the British term spelled "graught"?

This article details both the different regional definitions of graft, as well as the reasons it's spelled as it is: https://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2012/01/graf...

Spoilers: US usage is always negative, Australian usage mostly matches US, British is mostly positive, India is both. Someone asks the same spelling question, and gets the answer that it is because the word was only written down in either meaning quite late.

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