h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As a Brit reasearcher on a BBC (British) site, I would like to clarify a minor point for confused Brits, and Americans who need a quick hisory lesson.

The game the Americans refer to as 'Hockey' should be refered to as 'Ice Hockey'. It is derived from the original, played on dirt/grass/astroturf, with a round ball and no armour (except for the keeper - or netminder if you are American).

The original game, is known to Americans as 'Field Hockey', but as plain 'Hockey' to the Brits. Indeed, with the introduction of astroturf etc, the name 'Field Hockey' is often interpretted by a Brit to mean hockey played on a grass pitch.

Thus:
Ice Hockey = The US game with ice, armour, helmets and a puck
Hockey = The original, now mostly played on astroturfs with a ball
Field Hockey = The original, played in a muddy field (with a ball)

[Please Note: I mean no offence to any Americans in clarifying this, and indeed, inside their own borders, they may continue to call 'Ice Hockey' just 'Hockey' if they so wish. They should be aware though, that they have indulged in that great American tradition of renaming things, and that if they say 'Hockey' anywhere else in the world, they mean the original version.]

I wrote this article, of course, but I can't edit it because I forgot what user name I used to write the thing so long ago. But I swear on anything that you'd like that I wrote the thing. :P

And I actually saw a conversation here, which caused me to gibber a little bit in spasms of joy. I'd also like to confirm what the previous poster said...I do mean ice hockey. And it is a terrible habit of mine, although I'm a Canadian as opposed to an American. Not that this makes me any less guilty, since we're the ones who named the thing wrong! I think the Americans were calling it 'ice hockey' long after we'd stopped. So I'd like to apologize to everybody on behalf of every Canadian ever. It's our fault.

Just don't go out high-sticking guys in regular hockey (or field hockey as we call it). Because that can be mildly lethal.