TNT88
Referees in Australia
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2010
- Messages
- 265
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- Current Referee grade:
- Level 1
I know it seems like fun to correct everyone who refers to rugby's "laws" as "rules". But can we all just chill out a little when it comes to this?
There is nothing more annoying than when someone; either in a general discussion about refereeing, or in the middle of a referee's meeting is trying to make a point about something, only to be cut-off mid sentence by some smart-arse who thinks the conversation can't continue unless we establish the correct terminology of "laws/rules" at that exact point in time.
The truth is that the words are virtually interchangeable when discussing rugby laws. If I said: "the offside rule was hard to enforce in that game", everyone in that room will know exactly what I was referring to. But if there was genuine confusion, it would take more than 0.5 seconds to establish anyway so there is just no excuse to interrupt someone using those terms.
I don't know what the general feeling is around here, but my point simply is that in general conversation the two words are perfectly interchangeable. And if you are someone who prefers for the sake of consistency that we all stick to 1 usage, then the best time to discuss that with someone is in a quiet word after the conversation is over. Not rudely in the middle of the conversation.
thoughts?
There is nothing more annoying than when someone; either in a general discussion about refereeing, or in the middle of a referee's meeting is trying to make a point about something, only to be cut-off mid sentence by some smart-arse who thinks the conversation can't continue unless we establish the correct terminology of "laws/rules" at that exact point in time.
The truth is that the words are virtually interchangeable when discussing rugby laws. If I said: "the offside rule was hard to enforce in that game", everyone in that room will know exactly what I was referring to. But if there was genuine confusion, it would take more than 0.5 seconds to establish anyway so there is just no excuse to interrupt someone using those terms.
I don't know what the general feeling is around here, but my point simply is that in general conversation the two words are perfectly interchangeable. And if you are someone who prefers for the sake of consistency that we all stick to 1 usage, then the best time to discuss that with someone is in a quiet word after the conversation is over. Not rudely in the middle of the conversation.
thoughts?