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Sport
Sinead Butler
Jun 17, 2021
A clip of England footballer Jack Grealish has gone viral after he was left baffled by a reference to an encyclopedia.
The attacking midfielder was being interviewed by Talk Sport ahead of England’s match against Scotland on Friday.
Confusion was caused when the reporter referred to Aston Villa manager, Dean Smith’s glowing comments about Grealish’s football knowledge.
“Dean Smith also says you’re an encyclopedia of football, what does that come from?”
“A what?” Grealish asks.
“An encyclopedia of football,” the reporter repeated.
“I don’t know what that means,” the Aston Villa player admitted.
“Well, you know what an encyclopedia is, so basically you have an encyclopedic knowledge of football.
“So you know everything there is to know about football.”
The reporter then goes on to explain to Grealish that an encyclopedia is “a book that has descriptions of every word, thing, and everything else in it.”
She adds: “In terms of football, you have an encyclopedic knowledge.”
“Oh” Grealish replies, “Yeah no, I just love watching football.”
The exchange has since gone viral on Twitter, with over 12,000 likes, and hundreds of comments from people who enjoyed the clip.
Jack Grealish not knowing what an encyclopedia is, is... *Chefs kiss*— Tom HC (@Tom HC) 1623929302
This is great, haha. He put his mind to one thing in life and he’s better at that than most of us are at anything. https://t.co/wrc9IZQT1E— Thelonious 🇯🇲 (@Thelonious 🇯🇲) 1623937421
Funny thou 🤦♂️😂 https://t.co/eo5NU0bI3w— Dan🅿️. 🏴 (@Dan🅿️. 🏴) 1623935320
Brilliant 😂 https://t.co/OBz3AxTczk— Matt Le Clercq (@Matt Le Clercq) 1623935485
While other’s appreciated Grealish’s candid honesty.
@Spencer938 🤣🤣🤣 at least he's honest— Savo's Bandana (@Savo's Bandana) 1623939239
@Spencer938 His honesty is just brilliant!! Our Captain!! #avfc— Kev Pow ⚽️ (@Kev Pow ⚽️) 1623936443
Many pointed out that the younger generation do not use encyclopedia’s anymore, thanks to modern technology.
In all fairness to Grealish, who reads or has an encyclopedia in this day and age?
@Spencer938 To be fair I bet they don't sell the encyclopedia brittanica anymore— Steve (@Steve) 1623927331
@Spencer938 Everything is online now, he is too young to know what an encyclopaedia is— Jim A (@Jim A) 1623938248
@Spencer938 Tbf no one's probably seen a physical encyclopedia in about 15 years— Chris Sayer (@Chris Sayer) 1623936961
@MenInBlazers He's 25, doubt he's ever even seen an encyclopedia, let alone read through one.— Dustin (@Dustin) 1623937170
It just dawned on me that there are like 2 generations that never had to touch an encyclopedia. 😝 https://t.co/VeepqTv3OG— la prima de todos (pero de lejos) (@la prima de todos (pero de lejos)) 1623938845
While some suggested she should have referred to Wikipedia - the online encyclopedia - instead as that would be a term that the younger generation would be more familiar with.
@Spencer938 How long before this phrase is replaced by “Wikipedic knowledge”— max (@max) 1623942049
@Spencer938 Kids don't know what books are... If she'd said Wikipedia he would have understood 🤣— Kieran Woodruff (@Kieran Woodruff) 1623931620
@MenInBlazers Should have said a Wikipedia. Kids these days have never physically seen an encyclopedia.— Rambo (@Rambo) 1623941427
Why didn’t they say Wikipedia? Hhay mani. Know your audience. How is he supposed to know about that obsolete thing? https://t.co/J53HPpY5AL— Shezi (@Shezi) 1623939272
England face Scotland tomorrow in their next Euro 2020 match, which will take place at Wembley Stadium at 8pm.
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