greenbags125 t1_iy01xe0 wrote
Reply to comment by BXCellent in TIL that FIFA is a French abbreviation, it would be IFAF in English, and England weren't an original member despite creating the game. FIFA also now has more members than the UN by BXCellent
It’s a few reasons. French was the global lingua franca for much of the 19th and early 20th centuries and the language of a lot of global Royal courts, similar to English today. Second, as the capital of European culture, politics, and finance, a lot of organizations were formed in Paris, which gave them French names. Finally, French speaking Switzerland was highly influential with Geneva holding international status so a lot of French names was due to that.
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