'The Quadrennial Carnival' is here again!
- Second Mentions Team
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
The quadrennial carnival is back.
Or, as most of us still insist on calling it, the World Cup.
Every four years, football's biggest tournament arrives and journalists everywhere face a familiar challenge. They need to write about the same event repeatedly without actually calling it the World Cup every time.
The results are glorious.
As the world's best players prepare for another month of drama, heartbreak and questionable punditry, we've rounded up some of our favourite football-themed second mentions.
No. 1 — World Cup → "the quadrennial carnival"
One of the all-time great tournament second mentions.
The phrase has appeared across multiple publications and somehow manages to make the World Cup sound less like a sporting event and more like a travelling circus arriving in town every four years.
Which, when you think about it, isn't entirely inaccurate.
Millions of visitors. Costumes. Singing. Questionable decisions. Carnival fits rather well.
No. 2 — Championship Play-Off Final → "the end-of-season jamboree"
Spotted in The Guardian.
Elsewhere known as "the most expensive game in football", the Championship play-off final determines who reaches the Premier League and receives the financial windfall that comes with it.
"The end-of-season jamboree" gives the occasion a rather more festive feel.
One imagines bunting and cake rather than crippling tension and existential dread.
No. 3 — FA Cup → "the iconic piece of silverware"
Football's oldest cup competition has produced countless memorable moments.
It has also produced one of our favourite trophy-related second mentions.
"The iconic piece of silverware" feels suitably respectful, although we suspect most supporters would simply call it "the thing we desperately want to win."
No. 4 — EFL Cup → "the three-handled trophy"
A wonderfully practical description.
While most second mentions strive for poetry, this one opts for pure observation.
It has three handles.
It is a trophy.
Job done.
Sometimes journalism doesn't need to overcomplicate things.
No. 5 — Football Stadium Floodlights → "the leviathan lanterns"
Found on BBC Sport.
Every football fan knows the feeling.
You're walking through residential streets on a cold evening and suddenly catch sight of the stadium lights rising above the rooftops.
"The leviathan lanterns" captures that moment beautifully.
Although it does make your local ground sound like something from a Victorian tale.
No. 6 — Football Pie → "the savoury projectile"
Most pies spend their lives as "the savoury snack".
Sadly, not all pies enjoy such a peaceful existence.
Once launched from the stands towards a player, referee or unfortunate assistant manager, they are immediately upgraded to "the savoury projectile".
Possibly the only foodstuff with an offensive and defensive mode.
No. 7 — Assistant Referees → "the eagle-eyed assistants"
A fair description.
Without them, football would descend into complete chaos.
With them, football descends into slightly less chaos.
We also enjoyed BBC Sport's description of the linesman's flag as "the wavy, felt thing", which is hard to improve upon.
No. 8 — Referees → "the card-happy whistlers"
A second mention that tells you everything you need to know.
Particularly useful when describing officials who view yellow cards less as disciplinary tools and more as collectable stickers.
This week's winner
World Cup → "the quadrennial carnival"
It had to be.
The phrase perfectly captures the scale, spectacle and occasional absurdity of football's greatest tournament.
For one glorious month, entire nations suspend rational thought, sleep patterns disappear, and strangers become temporary tactical experts.
A carnival indeed.
Spotted a good football second mention?
Send it to us via the form on our website
The best reader submissions may feature in a future roundup.
And if you'd like hundreds more examples collected in one place, The Little Book of Second Mentions is available now from all good booksellers — or, as one particularly inventive journalist might put it, "reputable distributors of bound word collections."
I love 'the savoury projectile'