Word for a zero score in sports -- BrE/ AmE

Question

What would be a word for a zero score in sports in BrE/ AmE?

Suppose, in a game of baseball or football (soccer), a team (Team A) scores one point, but its opponent (Team B) scores none, so Team A wins. In my experience, in the US, one would usually say "Team A beat Team B one to nothing", and the score would be written "Team A 1, Team B 0". In the UK, on the other hand, one would usually say "Team A beat Team B one - nil", and the score would be written "Team A 1 - 0 Team B". Saying "zero" for 0 when giving scores is, I believe, very rare in both the US and the UK. Do other readers find these observations to be true or mostly true?

Yes, in the USA, nothing is often used as a "substitute" for the number 'zero' in a score of baseball, US football. Also, zip is used. So Team A beat Team B 1-nothing or 1-zip; hardy ever 1-zero. In tennis, love is used instead of zero. — Arm the good guys in America, May 24 '18 at 05:43
Nil in UK, esp for football (soccer). If the game is ongoing "yet to score" is used, too. — Pam, May 24 '18 at 07:11
In tennis, a score of 0 is "love," both in the US and in the UK . . . — Jason Bassford, May 24 '18 at 07:24
Related: What is the history of “nil” in British football /soccer? and Why do they say “love fifteen,” in tennis? — Mari-Lou A, May 24 '18 at 10:33
Also related, and the comments are helpful too: Are “nil” and “null” interchangeable? — Mari-Lou A, May 24 '18 at 10:41
"Nul" or "null" is not interchangeable with "nil" in sports scores. In other words no "Team A beat Team B one - null". — tautophile, May 24 '18 at 15:26
Two competing theories of use of the word 'love' for in tennis are discussed here: https://www.playyourcourt.com/news/what-does-love-mean-tennis/ Of more interest, however, in your question, is why (or how) the order of the opponents' score is announced. This is determined by who is on serve (meaning, who is serving the ball) in a particular game. Thus "Love-15" would mean the person serving has "love" or nothing, and the person being served to has 15. Announcing the score in order of server first is also common in other racquet sports, like squash and racquetball. — , May 24 '18 at 21:44
The scoring in lawn tennis (Love, 15, 30, 40, game) is likewise related to its long history in relation to its antecedent, the "indoor tennis" game played by the likes of Henry VIII. But that is beyond the scope of your question. — , May 24 '18 at 21:50
@tautophile 'Null' is not a substitute for 'nil' or 'zero' in computng either. If you try to compare a variable holding zero and a null variable they won't match. — BoldBen, Oct 03 '19 at 08:26

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered May 24 '18 at 05:08

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A Baseball score of zero, when spoken in the US, is never "nil" or "nought," as in other sports in the UK. It may be "zero" or "nothing," the latter probably being more common, but I have routinely heard both, and I am a big baseball fan. Additionally, this is known as a "shutout" in baseball when one of the teams fails to score completely.

answered May 24 '18 at 05:08

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also, zip, as in 5-zip (5 to nothing) – Arm the good guys in America May 24 '18 at 05:44
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"Zip" is frequent in US sports talk, but decidedly more informal than "nothing", or "no score". – tautophile May 24 '18 at 15:23

Word for a zero score in sports -- BrE/ AmE

1 Answers1